^      THE       \ 

J  LisRARiES  r; 


^ 


^  ^'^K    OF  ^^^"^  ^ 

GENERAL 
LIBRARY 


ANCIENT  iHrsaPOBY-: 

\ 


THE  HI 


j^a^H 


OF  THK 

EGYPTIANS,  ASSYRIANS,  CHALDEANS,  MEDES,  LYDIANS, 

CARTHAGINIANS,   PERSIANS,  MACEDONIANS,  THE 

SELEUCIDiE  IN  SYRIA,  AND  PARTHIANS. 


FROM 

ROLLIN,  AND  OTHER  AUTHENTIC  SOURCES, 

BOTH    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN. 
IN   FOUR   VOLUMES. 


VOL.  II. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  ASSYRIANS,  CHALDEANS,  MEDES, 

LYDIANS,   AND   CARTHAGINIANS. 


NEW    YORK: 

ROBERT   CARTER,   58   CANAL  STREET. 
PITTSBURG :— THOMAS  CARTER. 

1844. 


STBBBOTYPED     BY     T.    B.      SMIT] 
216  WILLIAM-STREET,  NEW  YORK. 


HENRY  LUDWIG,  PRINTER. 


CONTENTS. 

VOL.  II. 

THE  HISTOEY  OF  THE  ASSYRIANS  AND  CHALDEANS. 

CHAPTER  I. 
THE  PHYSICAL  HISTORY  OF  ASSYRIA. 

PAGE. 

Mountains 8 

Plains 11 

Vegetation 11 

Climate 14 

ASSYRIA    PROPER. 

Rivers 16 

BABYLONIA,  OR  CHALDEA. 

Ancient  Canals 24 

Modern  Canals 27 

The  Euphrates 28 

The  Productions  of  Babylonia 30 

Climate 33 

CHAPTER  II. 
TOPOGRAPHICAL  HISTORY  OF  ASSYRIA. 

Tower  of  Babel 35 

Tower  of  Belus ^ 37 

The  Mujelibe .T. 39 

Birs  Nemroud 40 

Nimrod's  Tower 43 

City  of  Babylon 43 

Nineveh 65 


20308 


IV  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Resen 72 

Calah  72 

Rehoboth 73 

Erech 73 

Accad 73 

Calneh 74 

Sittace 74 

Apollonia 75 

Artemia 75 

Arbela 75 


CHAPTER  III. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  POLITY  OF  THE  ASSYRIANS. 

The  Government 77 

Laws , 84 

Punitive  Laws 86 

Military  Power 86 

Commerce 87 

The  Priestly  Power 88 

Caste 95 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  KINGDOM  OF  ASSYRIA 

PART    I. ASSYRIAN    ADMINISTRATION. 

Pul 100 

Tiglath-Pileser *..  101 

Shalmaneser,  or,  Shalman 103 

Sennacherib 104 

Esarhaddon 107 

Ninus 110 

Nabuchodonosor ^ 110 

Sarac,  or  Sardanapalus Ill 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE  KINGDOM  OF  ASSYRIA. 

PJP,T   II. BABYLONIAN   ADMINISTRATION. 

Nabopolassar » 113 

Nebuchadnezzar 114 

Evil  Merodach 123 

Belshazzar 124 


CONTENTS.  V 

PAGB 

Laborosoarchad J26 

Nabonadius J^^ 

Dynasties  of  Assyria l-^o 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  MEDES. 

CHAPTER  I. 
THE  PHYSICAL  HISTORY  OF  MEDIA. 

Mountains ^30 

Rivers 131 

Climate,  Productions,  etc 131 

CHAPTER  n. 
TOPOGRAPHICAL  HISTORY  OF  MEDIA. 

Halah,  Habor,  and  Hara 134 

Ecbatana 138 

Rages,  or  Rey 142 

CHAPTER  IIL 

HISTORY  OF  THE  POLITY  OF  THE  MEDES. 

The  Government,  Laws,  etc 144 

War,  Arts,  etc 145 

CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  KINGDOM  OF  MEDIA 

Dejoces 150 

Pliraortes 151 

Cyaxares  i.,  or  Kai  Kobad 152 

Astyages,  or  Kai  Kaus 154 

Cyaxares  ii.,  Fraiborz,  or  Darius  the  Mede 155 

1* 


CONTENTS. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  LYDIANS. 

CHAPTER  I. 
THE  PHYSICAL  HISTORY  OF  LYDIA. 

PAGE 

Mountains 159 

Rivers 160 

Fertility,  etc 163 

CHAPTER  n. 
TOPOGRAPHICAL  HISTORY  OF  LYDIA. 

Sardis 164 

Philadelphia 167 

Thyatira 168 

Magnesia 170 

CHAPTER  III. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  POLITY  OF  LYDIA. 

The  Government,  etc 172 

Commeio© 176 

CHAPTER  IV. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  KINGDOM  OF  LYDIA. 

Gyges • 177 

Ardyes 178 

Sadyattes 178 

Alyattes 178 

Croesus , 180 


'^  UIIRAEY. 

THE  HISTOJ^-^'OlilC 


OF   THE 


ASSYRIANS,    CHALDEANS,   ETC. 


THE  ASSYRIANS  AND  CHALDEANS. 
CHAPTER  I. 

THE  PHYSICAL  HISTORY  OF  ASSYRIA. 

The  country  of  Assyria  derived  its  name  from  Asshur,  the 
son  of  Shem,  by  whom  it  was  first  peopled,  Gen.  x.  11.  Its 
boundaries  varied  with  the  limits  of  the  empire,  but  the  geo- 
graphical limits  of  Assyria  Proper,  which  formed  the  nucleus 
of  that  empire,  nearly  corresponded  with  those  of  the  present 
Koordistan,  being  bounded  by  Armenia  on  the  north.  Baby- 
lonia and  Lusiana  on  the  south,  part  of  Media  and  the  moun- 
tains called  Zagros  on  the  east,  and  the  Tigris  on  the  west. 
In  its  most  extensive  signification,  both  in  sacred  and  profane 
history,  it  comprehended  not  only  this  tract  of  country,  but 
Aram,  or  Syria,  eastward  and  westward  of  the  Euphrates. 

In  Scripture,  Assyria  Proper  was  called  Kir,  2  Kings  xvi. 
9  ;  Amos  i.  5 ;  ix.  7 ;  which  name  may  be  still  traced  in  that 
country.  Thus  the  Karduchian  or  Koordistan  mountains, 
Kiare,  the  name  of  the  loftiest  ridge ;  and  the  large  town  of 
Kerhook,  evidently  retain  the  original  word  Kir,  with  some 
slight  variation.  This  was  a  rich  and  fertile,  though  moun- 
tainous region,  whence  it  was  called  by  the  Greeks  Adiabene, 
"impassable,"  finely  watered  by  the  springs  of  the  Tigris, 
the  greater  and  lesser  Zab,  the  Diala,  and  the  Mendeli. 

Aram,  or  Syria,  eastward  of  the  Euphrates,  was  divided 
into  two  districts,  the  northern  and  the  southern.  The  north- 
ern district  is  denominated  in  the  sacred  writings,  Aram 
Naharaim,  "  Aram  between  the  two  rivers  j"   and  by  the 


8  HISTORY  OP  THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS. 

Greeks,  Mesopotamia,  a  term  bearing  the  same  signification, 
Gen.  xxiv.  10 ;  xxxi.  20  ;  Numb,  xxiii.  7  ;  Deut.  xxiii.  4.  This 
district  extended  from  Mount  Masius  to  the  wall  of  Media 
southwards,  including  all  the  fertile  tract  between  the  two 
rivers.  The  lower  part  of  this  division  was  called  Padan-aram, 
or  "  the  champaign  Aram,"  Gen.  xxv.  20. 

The  southern  district,  called  "  the  land  of  Shinar,"  or  Baby- 
lon, Gen.  X.  10;  xi.  2;  "the  land  of  Nimrod,"  Mic.  v.  6; 
and  Babylonia,  by  the  Greek  and  Latin  writers, — reached 
from  the  wall  of  Media,  or  contracted  the  space  between  the 
two  rivers,  about  300  miles  down  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  never 
exceeding  four-score  miles  in  breadth. 

Aram,  or  Syria,  westward  of  the  Euphrates,  is  divided  in 
Scripture  into  Aram  Zobah,  which  reached  from  the  Euphra- 
tes to  the  north  and  east  of  Damascus,  1  Sam.  xiv.  47 ;  2  Sam. 
viii.  3 ;  and  Aram  of  Damascus,  which  lay  to  the  south  and 
west  of  the  former,  2  Sam.  viii.  5.  These  corresponded  to  the 
Upper  Syria,  north  of  Mount  Libanus,  including  Coelo-Syria, 
or  Hollow  Syria,  so  called  from  its  situation  between  the  two 
great  ridges  of  Libanus  and  Anai-Libanus,  and  Syria  Pales- 
tina,  which  included  the  Holy  Land,  and  that  maritime 
border  on  its  north-western  side,  which  the  Greeks  called 
Phenicia. 

A  late  writer  on  the  physical  features  of  Assyria  says,  that 
the  country,  including  Taurus,  is  distinguished  by  its  moun- 
tains^ plains,  and  vegetation. 

MOUi^TAINS. 

This  feature  of  Assyria  comprises  the  country  of  mountains 
and  hills  called  Taurus,  and  w^hich  is  composed  of  many  dif- 
ferent chains.  The  Taurian  range  encircles  the  whole  of  the 
interior ;  presenting  a  bold  precipitous  front  round  the  whole 
coast  of  this  peninsula,  and  so  lofty  as  to  be  visible  at  one-third 
of  the  whole  breadth  of  the  Mediterranean,  or  upwards  of 
130  miles.  Strabo  described  Taurus  as  beginning  to  rise 
from  Pamphylia,  and,  in  advancing  to  the  east,  to  send  off  two 
branches  ;  on  one  side  Amanus,  and  on  the  other  Anti-Taurus  ; 
but  he  says  that  its  elevation  is  not  great  till  it  reaches  Lycia. 
The  chieif  summits  mentioned  by  him  are,  Mount  Docdala,  on 
the  western  extremity ;  Anti-Cragus  and  Cragus,  which  lat- 
ter is  a  steep  range  fronting  the  sea,  having  eight  promonto- 
ries or  lofty  capes ;  Olympas ;  the  mountain  and  valley  of 


HISTORY   or   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  9 

Chimasra;  Solyma ;  and,  finally,  Climax,  between  which 
mountain  and  the  shore  Alexander  marched  with  his  army. 

Concerning  the  mountain  Chimoera,  which  is  celebrated  in 
poetic  mythology,  its  existence  till  lately  was  doubted ;  but  this 
doubt  arose  solely  from  our  ignorance  of  the  coast.  It  is  now 
called  Taktalu,  and  is  in  the  vicinity  of  Deliktash,  about  five 
miles  from  the  shore.  A  recent  traveller  examined  the  whole 
of  this  coast,  and  ascended  its  summit,  which  he  states  to  be 
elevated  7,800  feet  above  the  sea.  The  mountain  emits  a  con- 
stant and  brilliant  flame  during  the  night,  which  consists  of 
ignited  hydrogen  gas.  The  flame  is  most  brilliant  during 
the  time  of  heavy  rains,  or  previous  to  their  approach  ;  a  phe- 
nomenon resembling  the  Pictra  Mala  of  the  Apennines. 

This  flaming  mountain  (as  physical  phenomena  were  ge- 
nerally in  former  times  ascribed  to  preternatural  causes)  has 
been  converted  by  the  ancient  poets,  Homer,  Hesiod,  Lucre- 
tius, and  Virgil,  into  a  monster  with  the  head  of  a  lion,  the 
body  of  a  goat,  and  the  tail  of  a  serpent,  which  was  van- 
quished by  the  famous  Bellerophon  and  his  steed  Pegasus. 
Thus  Homer,  describing  the  more  than  mortal  feats  required 
to  be  performed  by  him,  by  his  host  the  king  of  Lycia,  says : 

"  First,  dire  Chimaera's  conquest  was  enjoin'd, 
A  mingled  monster  of  no  mortal  kind; 
Behind  a  draojon's  fiery  tail  was  spread ; 
A  goat's  rough  body  bore  a  lion's  head  ; 
Her  pitchy  nostrils  flaky  flames  expire ; 
Her  gaping  throat  emits  infernal  fire." 

Bochart  imagines  this  triple  monster  to  represent  the  three 
deities  worshipped  by  the  Solymi,  the  ancient  inhabitants  of 
Lycia.  Others  say,  that  it  signified  the  kind  of  enemies  with 
whom  Bellerophon  had  to  contend:  the  Solymi,  Amazons, and 
the  Lycians,  adumbrated  by  the  lion,  the  goat,  and  the  ser- 
pent. But  this  is  contradicted  by  the  poet  in  the  lines  im- 
mediately following  the  description.     They  read  thus  : 

"  This  pest  he  slaughter'd  (for  he  read  the  skies, 
And  trusted  heaven's  informing  prodigies,) 
Then  met  in  arms  the  Solymaean  crew, 
(Fiercest  of  men,)  and  those  the  warrior  slew. 
Next  the  bold  Amazons'  whole  force  he  tried, 
And  conquer'd  still ;  for  heaven  was  on  his  side. 
Nor  ended  here  his  toils ;  his  Lycian  foes 
At  his  return  a  treach'rous  ambush  rose, 
With  levell'd  spears,  along  the  winding  shore ; 
There  fell  they  breathless,  and  return'd  no  more." 


10  mSTORY   or   THE  ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

This  indicates  that  the  conquest  of  these  nations  succeeded 
that  of  the  triple-formed  monster,  Chimcera.  There  are 
others,  finally,  who  conceive  that  the  poetical  picture  repre- 
sents the  state  of  the  mountain  when  Bellerophon  visited  Ly- 
cia :  namely,  that  its  base  was  infested  with  serpents  ;  its  mid- 
dle afforded  pasture  for  goats ;  and  that  its  summit  was  inha- 
bited by  lions.  These  they  imagine  Bellerophon  slew,  ren- 
dering the  mountain  habitable  ;  whence  he  was  said  to  destroy 
the  triple  monster. 

That  part  of  Taurus  which  is  above  the  plain  of  Tarsus 
and  Adanah,  commonly  known  as  the  Ramadan  Oghlu  moun- 
tains, is  continued  by  the  Dardun  Dagh  to  the  Amanus  ;  but 
the  direction  of  the  two  chains  is  different,  as  is  also  their 
structure  and  geognostic  relations.  The  southern  prolonga- 
tion of  Amanus  is  Rhossus,  which  terminates  in  the  Jebel 
Kasserikj  above  Rhas  Khanzir ;  and  Jebel  Musah,  above 
Seleucia. 

The  mountain  of  Taurus,  stretching  east  on  Commagena, 
separates  Sophena  from  Osroene,  and  then  divides  itself  into 
three  portions.  The  most  northerly  and  highest  are  the  Ni- 
phates,  in  Acilicene.  The  central  chain  comprises  the  Aza- 
rah  Dagh,  and  mountain  country  round  the  mines,  called 
Maden  Gomush,  or  Kapan,  and  Maden  Kapur.  The  most 
southerly  is  the  antique  Masius,  and  includes  the  Karadjia 
Daghli,  the  Jebel  Tur,  and  Baarem  hills,  extending  to  the  Je- 
zirah.  To  the  south  of  these  are  the  Babel  and  Sinjar  ranges 
of  hills,  united  by  the  isolated  hill  of  Kuka  to  the  hills  of  Ab- 
del  Hassiz. 

These  various  hills  are  composed  of  granite,  gneiss,  mica 
shist,  limestones,  diorites,  diallage  rocks,  serpentines,  actyno- 
lite  rock,  stea  shists,  sandstones,  feldspatho-pyroxenic  rocks, 
limestones  with  nummulites,  limestones  with  pectin  ides  and 
ostracea,  fossils,  indurated  chalk,  quartz  shist,  granular  chalk, 
clay-slate,  chlorite-slate,  hornblende  rock,  hornblende  shist, 
gypsum,  siliceous  limestones,  conide  limestones,  etc.  • 

The  elevation  of  the  crest  of  Taurus,  viewed  as  the  mean 
between  the  height  of  the  culminating  points  and  that  of  the 
passes,  is,  at  Maden  Gomush,  5,053  feet ;  at  Dawa  Boini, 
4,453  feet ;  at  Kuhtel,  3,379  feet :  at  the  Gul  Dagh,  4,808  feet ; 
Ayeli  mountain,  5,650  feet ;  Seliski,  4,250  feet ;  the  crest  of 
the  Kara  Bel,  5,790  feet ;  that  of  the  Chamlu  Bel,  5,260  feet ; 
and  the  Aklo  Dagh,  2,900  feet. 

At  the  foot  of  these  mountains  are  valleys  or  plains  various- 
ly characterized.    Some  are  composed  of  the  feldspatho-pyro- 


mSTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  11 

xenic  rocks,  some  of  chalk,  some  of  limestone,  sandstone  marls 
mica  shist,  and  gypsum,  and  some  are  very  fertile. 

PLAINS. 

The  second  district  includes  all  the  territory  which  extends 
from  37*^  north  lat.  to  34°,  and  comprises  the  plains  of  Syria, 
Mesopotamia,  and  the  country  east  of  the  Tigris  to  the  Kur- 
dish mountains.  The  whole  of  this  country  consists  of  creta- 
ceous and  super-cretaceous  deposits,  occasionally  interrupted 
by  plutonic  rocks  of  the  feldspatho-pyroxenic  family.  The 
character  of  these  plains  varies  with  the  altitude  and  latitude, 
as  well  as  with  the  quality  of  the  soil,  and  the  presence  or  ab- 
sence of  dewy  moisture. 

The  structure  of  the  plains  consists  of  indurated,  compact, 
granular  chalks,  flints,  sihceous  sandstone,  limestones,  gyp- 
sum, calcareous  gypsum,  sands,  and  sandstones,  bitumen, 
naphtha,  sulphur,  limestone  breccia,  red  saliferous  and  gyp- 
siferous  sands,  cerithia,  fresh-water  limestones,  marls,  fossili- 
ferous  marls,  clays,  pebbles,  ironstones,  soil,  etc. 

The  upland  of  feldspatho-pyroxenic  rocks,  extending  from 
Jezirah  to  Tel  Sakhan,  near  Nisibin,  is  a  stony  wilderness, 
amidst  which  there  is  very  little  cultivation.  Numerous 
flocks  of  sheep  and  cattle,  however,  obtain  a  scanty  support 
here  during  a  large  portion  of  the  year,  and  wolves  are  very 
numerous.     This  plain  has  a  mean  elevation  of  1,550  feet. 

The  plains  of  northern  Syria,  the  plains  of  northern  Meso- 
potamia, from  Urfah  to  Kakkah,  and  from  Nisibin  to  El  Hathr, 
and  the  Chaldean  plain  east  of  Nineveh,  that  of  Erbil  and 
of  Akun  Kupri,  possess  a  soil  with  good  agricultural  qualities, 
but  barren  from  want  of  irrigation.  The  elevation,  of  these 
plains  averages  1,300  feet. 

The  remaining  differences  are  the  comparative  fertility  of 
some  places,  which  are  exposed  to  temporary  inundations  at 
the  heads  of  rivers  or  rivulets.  These  become  the  permanent 
abode  of  agricultural  tribes,  the  seat  of  cukivation  and  pros- 
perity, and  the  resort  of  the  Nomadic  Arab  and  Turkoman, 
where  at  certain  seasons  they  lead  their  flocks.  Thus  the 
Shamar  Arab  tribes  frequently  pitch  their  tents,  in  winter,  in 
the  plains  of  Seleucia,  and  in  the  summer  overrun  the  fertile 
district  of  El  Hathr. 

VEGETATION. 

Concerning  the  natural  productions  of  ancient  Assyria  very 
little  is  known ;  but  as  it  lay  between_33°  and  39°  N.  lat.,  it 


13  HISTORY  OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

must  in  its  happy  times  have  been  a  land  of  plenty.  We 
learn  this,  indeed^  from  the  vaunting-  speech  of  Rabshakeh 
to  the  Hebrews,  when  he  besieged  Jerusalem.  "  Make  an 
agreement  with  me  by  a  present,  and  come  out  to  me :  and 
eat  ye  every  one  of  his  vine,  and  every  one  of  his  fig  tree, 
and  drink  ye  every  one  of  the  waters  of  his  own  cistern ; 
until  I  come  and  take  you  away  to  a  land  like  your  own  land, 
a  land  of  corn  and  wine,  a  land  of  bread  and  vineyards,"  Isa. 
xxxvi.  16,  17.     See  also  2  Kings  xviii.  31,  32. 

In  his  narrative  of  the  expedition  of  Julian  to  Ctesiphon, 
Gibbon  says,  that  nature  had  denied  to  Assyria,  the  vine,  the 
olive,  and  the  fig  tree,  the  choicest  of  her  gifts.  This  is  not 
correct ;  these  choicest  gifts  of  nature's  bounty  are  at  the 
present  time  to  be  found,  both  in  Assyria  and  Babylonia, 
fallen  as  these  countries  now  are  from  their  pristine  glory. 
Kinnier  says,  they  may  be  seen  almost  in  every  garden. 

That  the  Assyrians  possessed  luxuries  in  ancient  times, 
may  be  gathered  from  the  statements  of  Xenophon.  Speak- 
ing of  the  provision  villages,  he  says,  "  Here  we  found  wine 
made  of  the  fruit  of  the  palm  tree,  and  also  vinegar  drawn  by 
boihng  from  the  same  fruit.  Some  of  these  they  dried  for 
sweetmeats.  The  wine  that  was  made  of  this  fruit  was  sweet 
to  the  taste,  but  apt  to  give  the  headache ;  here  also  the 
soldiers  eat  for  the  first  time  the  fith  of  the  palm  tree,  and 
many  admired  both  the  figure  and  peculiar  sweetness  of  it. 
This  also  occasioned  violent  headaches."  Ammianus  and 
Herodotus  bear  the  same  testimony  ;  and  that  palm  wine  was 
very  abundant,  we  may  conclude,  from  the  fact  that  the  boats 
which  descended  the  Tigris  from  Armenia,  some  of  which 
were  large,  had,  in  the  latter  historian's  days,  palm  wine  for 
their  chief  article  of  commerce. 

Palm  wine  is  now  no  longer  made  in  that  country,  as  when 
the  date  trees  abounded:  but  Burckhardt,  in  his  travels  in 
Nubia,  describes  it  as  made  in  that  country,  which  may  give 
the  reader  an  idea  of  what  it  was,  as  made  in  Assyria  and 
Babylonia.  He  says :  "  In  all  the  larger  villages  of  Nubia, 
the  use  of  palm  wine  is  very  common,  and  at  Derr  a  vast  deal 
of  spirits  is  consumed.  The  wine  does  not  taste  amiss  ;  but 
it  is  too  rich  and  too  thick  to  be  drank  with  pleasure.  When 
the  date  fruit  has  arrived  at  its  full  maturity,  it  is  thrown  info 
large  earthen  boilers,  and  left  to  boil  without  interruption  for 
three  or  four  days.  It  is  then  strained,  and  the  clear  juice  put 
into  earthen  jars,  which  are  well  shut  up,  and  then  buried  in 
the  ground,  where  it  ferments.     It  is  left  for  ten  or  twelve 


HISTORY   OF    THE    ASSYRIANS    AND    CHALDEANS.  13 

days  under  ground  ;  at  the  expiration  of  which  time  it  is  fit 
to  drink.  It  keeps  a  twelvemonth,  and  then  turns  sour.  The 
acguavitoB,  made  from  dates,  is  of  very  good  quality,  and 
keeps  for  years.  The  upper  classes  of  people  at  Derr  are 
every  evening  intoxicated,  either  with  date  wine  or  spirits,  of 
which  large  quantities  are  consumed.  They  are  sold  openly. 
From  Siout  southward,  all  through  Upper  Egypt,  date  spirits 
are  made,  and  probably  sold  ;  the  Pasha  receiving  a  tax  on  it 
from  the  innkeepers.  There  is  also  made  from  the  dates  a 
kind  of  jelly  or  honey,  which  serves  the  rich  people  for  a 
sweetmeat. 

The  features  of  the  vegetation  of  Assyria  may  be  divided 
into  two  sections: — 1.  That  of  the  mountains;  and,  2.  That 
of  the  plains. 

The  most  remarkable  feature  in  the  vegetation  of  Taurus 
is  the  abundance  of  trees,  shrubs,  and  plants  in  the  northern, 
and  their  comparative  fewness  in  the  southern  districts.  The 
Masius  is  woody  in  parts  ;  such,  for  instance,  are  a  few  dis- 
tricts in  the  Baarem,  and  the  Jebel  Tur,  near  Nisibin,  from 
whence  some  have  supposed  Trajan  collected  the  wood  for 
the  construction  of  his  fleet.  From  the  summit  of  Ayeli,  pine 
and  fir  forests  are  first  visible  in  the  distance,  and  they  ulti- 
mately cover  the  Kara  Bel  and  the  Chamlu  Bel,  as  the  latter 
name  indicates.  On  the  contrary,  around  the  Arganah,  Ma- 
den,  Kirtchu,  and  Gul  Dagh  hills,  no  trees  are  to  be  seen. 

The  forest  trees  consist  of  several  variations  of  the  oak  ;  of 
pine,  chesnut,  ash,  alder  tree,  hazel,  maple  trees,  etc.  Among 
the  useful  and  cukivated  plants  of  Taurus,  are  the  vine,  fig, 
almond,  and  olive  trees  ;  pears,  apples,  and  apricots  also  are 
abundant;  and  several  kinds  of  wheat  are  cultivated  there. 

On  the  flanks  of  forests,  or  isolated,  are  found  the  carob, 
medlar,  and  plum  trees  ;  by  the  banks  of  streams,  the  tama- 
risk, etc.  ;  and  in  shubberies  and  low  woodlands,  the  box, 
juniper,  myrtle,  scarlet  oak,  buckthorn,  cypress  trees,  etc. 
Heaths  are  rarely  met  with ;  the  Erica  arborea,  however, 
flourishes  near  Sis,  and  the  Erica  scoparia,  in  the  valley  of 
Antioch. 

Among  the  plants  which  distinguish  the  plains  are  the  fol- 
lowing: wheat,  barley,  vetches  of  different  kinds,  spurge, 
cucumbers  of  various  kinds,  banewort,  marsh  mallow,  ect. 
The  plains  also  produce  trees  of  various  kinds :  among  which 
may  be  mentioned  the  plane  tree,  which  grows  near  springs 
and  tombs,  and  attains  an  enormous  size.  One  at  Bir,  says 
Ainsworth,  measured  thirty-six  feet  in  circumference;  and 

VOL.    11.  2 


14  HISTORY    OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS. 

one  at  Daphnse,  near  Antioch,  forty-two  feet  in  girth,  and  is 
supposed  to  have  existed  upwards  of  a  thousand  years. 

Among  the  fruits  of  the  plains  are  the  fig,  mulberry,  nut, 
pomegranate,  pine,  plum,  vine,  pear  trees,  etc.  Among  cul- 
tivated plants,  Sesanum,  of  which  an  oil  is  made  ;  the  cotton 
tree,  etc.  And  among  the  useful  vegetables  furnished  by  the 
field,  the  herb  mallows,  sorrel,  mustard,  and  asparagus. 

For  two  months  in  the  year,  October  and  November,  vege- 
tation ceases  in  Assyria,  every  thing  being  parched  up.  After 
this  period,  clouds  from  the  Lebanon,  in  Syria,  and  reverses 
in  the  mountain  temperatures  to  the  north  and  east  over  Me- 
sopotamia and  Adiabene,  bring  down  refreshing  rains,  and 
cause  the  grass  to  grow,  and,  notwithstanding  subsequent 
frosts  and  storms,  some  compositjs  do  bud.  The  succession 
of  vegetation  is  preserved  by  those  plants  which  have  succu- 
lent roots,  nodes  or  bulbs,  which  preserve  sufficient  moisture 
to  ensure  life  amidst  the  most  arid  soil.  They  seem  to  sleep 
during  the  summer  drought,  and  awake  to  life  again  by  the 
first  rains,  and  prematurely  put  forth  their  buds  in  October. 
Among  these  are  a  species  of  tulip,  crocus,  and  itia,  an  herb 
called  by  some  chameleon.  These  are  soon,  however,  en- 
veloped in  snow,  or  blasted  by  the  wintry  winds,  till  early  in 
spring  they  again  make  their  appearance,  with  all  that  vivid 
beauty  of  colour,  and  those  variety  of  forms,  which  are  so 
glowingly  depicted  on  the  canvass,  or  described  in  the  pages, 
of  eastern  painters  and  poets. 

CLIMATE. 

The  climate  of  Assyria  is  various.  That  of  Taurus  pre- 
sents us  with  cold  winters,  with  much  snow,  and  hot  sum- 
mers. In  some  of  the  villages,  the  natives  complain  of  exces- 
sive summer  heats,  especially  at  Amasiyah  and  Kapan.  Ains- 
worth  says,  that  in  crossing  the  Marash  hills  in  February, 
the  snow  was  from  two  to  three  feet  deep,  and  so  hard  as  to 
bear  a  horse ;  and  yet  in  occasional  bare  spots  crocuses  were 
in  flower,  and  spiders  were  running  about.  At  the  same 
time  of  the  year,  in  sheltered  valleys,  various  coloured  ane- 
mones bloom  ;  and  in  March,  the  almond  tree,  pear,  medlar, 
and  laburnum,  are  in  bloom. 

The  climate  of  the  plains  is  characterized  by  great  dryness, 
combined  with  great  variations  in  the  temperature  of  the  air 
From  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Tigris,  there  is  an  increase  of 
cold  in  the  same  parallels,  from  west  to  east  j  but  this  is  not 


HISTORY  OP    THE   ASSYEUNS    AND    CHALDEANS.  15 

the  case  in  the  plains  east  of  the  Tigris,  which,  sheltered  hy 
the  Kurdish  mountains,  possess  a  more  temperate  winter. 
The  influence  of  the  Taurus,  clad  for  so  many  months  with 
snow,  is  supposed  to  reduce  the  rigour  of  the  winter's  cold, 
and  to  cause  the  vegetation  on  the  plains  of  North  Syria  and 
Mesopotamia  to  be  less  southern  than  that  of  Sicily  and  An- 
dalusia. On  the  other  hand,  the  heat  of  the  summer  sun,  in- 
creased by  radiation  and  equality  of  level,  is  almost  without 
an  extenuating  influence,  there  being  scarcely  an  evaporation. 
Hence,  when  the  winter  temperature  is  low,  the  summer 
heats  are  fervid ;  from  which  cause,  there  are  few  annual 
and  tender  plants  found  in  Assyria. 

Those  divisions  of  the  Assyrian  empire  which  demand  par- 
ticular notice  in  this  section,  inasmuch  as  they  were  at  differ- 
ent periods  the  seat  of  government,  are  Assyria  Proper,  and 
Babylonia. 


ASSYRIA  PROPER. 

The  country  within  the  limits  of  Assyria  Proper,  is  called 
by  Pliny,  Adiabene ;  and  by  Strabo,  after  the  barbarians, 
Aturia  or  Atyria,  which,  as  Dion  Cassius  observes,  is  a  mere 
dialetic  variety  of  pronunciation,  instead  of  Assyria.  Ptolemy 
divides  Assyria  Proper  into  five  provinces  or  districts,  thus : 

1.  Adiabene. — This  was  the  chief  province  of  Assyria.  It 
was  so  called,  according  to  Ammianus,  from  the  two  rivers, 
Diasa  and  Adiaba.  Adiabene  had  the  Tigris  to  the  west,  the 
province  of  Apolloniatis  to  the  east,  Calachene  to  the  north, 
and  Sittacene  to  the  south.  It  answers  in  modern  times  to 
that  tract  of  land  which  extends  from  the  river  of  Zaco,  or  the 
Khabour,  to  the  south-east  of  the  little  Zab.  From  Strabo's 
expression,  Adiaheni  vocantur  etiam  Saccopodes,  we  learn 
that  Adiabene  lay  in  the  north-west  quarter,  as  the  appella- 
tion of  Saccopodes  is  now  recognized  in  the  region  and  district 
of  Zaco,  seventy-seven  miles  north-west  of  Mosul. 

2.  Arrapachitis.  This  province,  according  to  Ptolemy, 
was  the  most  northern,  its  country  being  watered  by  the 
Gyndes.  It  corresponds  exactly  to  the  modern  Matiene,  or, 
more  properly,  Mardiene,  where  the  Gyndes,  according  to 
Herodotus,  has  its  source,  the  'mountainous  region  to  the 
north-west  of  Ecbatana,  or  Hamadan,  and  enters  the  Tigris 
half  way  between  Koote  and  Korna.  Both  the  Little  Zab 
und  the  Gyndes  originated  in  this  district  j  the  former  run- 


16  HISTORY   OF    THE    ASSYRIANS    AND    CHALDEANS. 

ning-  west  and  south-west  to  the  Tigris,  the  latter  south  and 
south-east  to  the  same  stream. 

3.  Calachene. — This  province  lay  north  of  Adiabene,  and 
corresponds  to  the  modern  district  of  Julameric,  or  the  Ha 
Kiare  Koords. 

4.  Chalonitis. — According  to  Strabo,  Chalonitis  was  a 
mountainous  region,  about  the  ascent  of  Mount  Zegros,  an- 
swering to  the  Kelonce  of  Diodorus  and  the  pass  of  the  mod- 
ern Ghilanee,  leading  to  Kermanshah.  It  probably  contained 
the  tract  between  the  Hamerine  hills,  to  the  pass  of  Ghilanee, 
on  the  road  to  Kermanshah,  or  the  tract  between  the  Hame- 
rine hills  and  Mount  Zagros,  now  called  the  Aiagha  Dagh. 

5.  Sittacene. — Sittacene  lay  south-east  of  Chalonitis,  be- 
tween the  Silla  and  the  Gyndes.  Strabo  says,  Sittacene  and 
ApoUoniatis  are  names  of  the  same  province,  the  latter  being 
the  name  imposed  by  the  Greeks  after  the  Macedonian  con- 
quest. It  was  so  called  from  Apollonia,  a  new  city  founded 
by  the  Greeks.  Both  Strabo  and  Stephanus  of  Byzantium 
agree  in  placing  Apollonia  in  the  road  from  Babylon  to  Susa, 
and  the  latter  makes  it  the  twelfth  town  in  that  road.  If, 
therefore,  Sittacene  and  ApoUoniatis  be  the  same  province,  and 
the  road  from  Babylon  to  Susa  lay  through  that  district,  then 
it  must  have  been  the  most  south-eastern  subdivision  of  As- 
syria, and  must  have  extended  from  the  Deeallah,  or  ancient 
Gorgos,  to  the  Gyndes,  or  Hud. 

These  five  districts  were  again  subdivided  into  minor  dis- 
tricts. Thus,  in  Adiabene  were  Aturia  and  Arbelitis;  and 
in  the  province  of  Calachene  was  the  district  of  Marde,  now 
Amadia. 

RIVERS. 

The  whole  country  of  Assyria  Proper  is  naturally  divided 
into  three  parts,  by  two  rivers  which  rise  in  the  Zagros  moun- 
tains, and,  after  traversing  Koordistan,  fall  into  the  Tigris. 
The  first  of  these  is  the 

Lycus. — This  river  is  the  Zabatus  of  Xenophon,  and  the 
modern  Greater  Zab.  It  is  a  stream  equal  in  volume  to  half 
the  Tigris  at  the  confluence.  Sometimes  it  is  called  the  river 
of  Julameric,  from  the  Ha  Kiare  Su,  its  great  north-western 
branch,  which,  in  its  course  to  the  Zab,  passes  by  a  town  of 
that  name,  and  capital  of  the  district  of  the  Kiare  Koords. 
The  river  rises  in  the  moimtains  of  Persian  Koordistan,  and 
pursues  a  north-westerly  direction,  and,  traversing  the  breadth 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYHIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  17 

of  Turkish  Koordistan,  empties  itself  with  rapidity  into  the 
Tigris,  about  forty-five  miles  below  Mosul,  and  imparts  its 
own  turbid  character  to  the  subsequent  course  of  that  river. 
Its  breadth,  where  it  enters  the  Tigris,  does  not  exceed  sixty 
feet ;  but  at  the  low  water  horse  ford,  on  the  road  to  Mosul, 
it  is  two  hundred  feet  wide,  at  the  least.  In  the  line  of  road  from 
Mosul  to  Arbela,  now  Irbil,  considerably  to  the  east  of  the 
Tigris,  it  is  deep  and  unfordable,  especially  when  swelled  by 
the  melted  snows  of  Mount  Choatras,  whose  hoary  summits 
are  discovered  at  a  great  distance  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
road  from  Bagdad  to  Mosul.     The  second  river,  the 

Caprus,  also  named  Zabas,  or  Anzabus,  by  the  latter  Greek 
and  Roman  writers,  is  probably  the  present  Lesser  Zab.  ^  The 
Little  Zab  is  a  narrow  but  deep  river,  which  rises  in  the 
nearer  declivity  of  the  Koordistan  mountains,  and  pursues 
nearly  a  direct  south-west  course 'of  150  miles  to  the  Tigris, 
which  it  enters  in  lat.  35°.  10'.  At  this  point,  the  width  of 
the  Little  Zab  is  only  twenty-five  feet,  although  in  its  upper 
course,  after  it  has  received  the  Altun  Su  (golden  water)  at 
Akun  Kupri,  (golden  bridge,)  its  breadth  is  nearly  three 
times  as  great.  It,  however,  discharges  an  immense  body  of 
water  into  the  Tigris,  which  immediately  after  forms  a  fear- 
ful rapid  and  fall,  which  greatly  endangers  the  rafts  that  nav- 
igate the  river  between  Mosul  and  Bagdad. 

These  two  rivers,  according  to  Bochart,  are  the  Diaba  and 
Adiaba,  or  the  Diava  and  Adiava.  Diava,  he  observes,  is 
lupus,  or  lupinus,  "  wolf,"  or  "  wolfish  ;"  diva  being  the 
Chaldee  for  "a  wolf;"  hence  he  derives  the  Greek  Lycus, 
which  bears  the  same  signification.  Ptolemy  calls  it  the 
Lukos,  or  "  White  river,"  an  appellation  which  corresponds 
with  the  colour  of  its  waters,  which  is  most  probably  the  pro- 
per term,  Lycus  being  Lukos  latinized.  This  appellation  is 
very  common  in  many  countries  ;  as  in  America,  where  we 
read  of  the  White,  Red,  Yellow,  and  Black  rivers.  The 
larger  branch  of  the  Nile  is  also  called  the  Abiad,  or  White 
River,  from  its  muddiness  ;  as  the  other  is  called  Azrek,  or 
Blue,  from  its  clearness. 

Adiaba,  the  name  of  the  second  river,  is  derived  by  the 
same  learned  writer  from  an  Arabic  word  signifying  "  swift ;" 
but  this  point  is  by  no  means  clear.  The  modern  name,  Zab, 
he  says,  is  corrupted  from  Diaba,  or  derived  from  the  Hebrew 
Zeeb,  which  differ  but  in  dialect.  Thevenot,  in  his  "  Travels 
to  the  Levant,"  speaks  of  one  river  only,  calls  it  Zarb,  and 
says  he  saw  it  fall  into  the  Tigris.     By  the  natives  these 

2* 


18  HISTORY   OF    THE    ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

rivers  are  called  Zarpi.  The  Zarb  is  spoken  of  by  Thevenot 
as  a  large  river,  half  as  broad  as  the  Tigris  ;  and  he  observes 
that  it  is  very  rapid,  and  that  its  waters  are  whitish  and  very 
cold  ;  whence  he  conceives  that  it  is  merely  snow-water  fall- 
ing from  the  mountains  of  Koordistan.  This  agrees  with 
Bochart's  conjecture  of  the  Adiaba ;  namely,  that  it  derives 
its  name  from  the  swiftness  of  its  course. 

Among  the  rivers  of  Assyria,  may  be  justly  reckoned  the 
Tigris,  not  only  because  it  bathed  all  the  western  skirts  o  this 
country,  but  also  because  all  the  other  rivers  flowed  into  it, 
and  because  the  great  cities  of  this  kingdom,  as  Nineveh, 
Ctesiphon,  and  others,  were  situated  thereon. 

Tigris. — The  Tigris  is  said  by  some  to  have  borrowed  its 
name  from  the  number  of  tigers  on  its  banks,  as  Lycus  did 
from  the  wolves  that  haunted  the  margin  of  that  river. 
Others  derive  it  from  a  Persian  word  signifying  an  arrow  ; 
both  terms  importing  it  to  be  rapid  and  violent  in  its  course. 
Some  travellers,  however,  contradict  this  ;  stating  that  it  is  a 
slower  stream  than  the  Euphrates,  and  that  this  is  caused  by 
the  meanders  with  which  it  abounds,  as  well  as  its  numerous 
islands  and  large  banks  of  stone.  Ainsworth,  who  accom- 
panied the  Euphrates  expedition  in  1838,  states  that  the  Ti- 
gris has  a  moderate  current  below  Bagdad,  but  passing  over 
several  ledges  of  rock  in  its  course  from  Mosul  to  that  city,  it 
forms  rapids  of  greater  or  lesser  importance. 

The  Scripture  name  of  this  river  is  Hiddekel,  Gen.  ii.  1 4  ; 
Dan.  X.  4  ;  and  Bochart  derives  its  present  name  from  that 
Hebrew  word.  Rauwolf  says,  that  the  natives  of  that  part 
of  the  world  call  it  Hiddekel  to  this  day.  It  is  locally  and 
usually  distinguished  by  the  term  Digel,  or  Diglah ;  and  if 
we  deprive  the  Scripture  name  of  the  prefixed  aspiration,  the 
remainder,  Dekel^  has  considerable  analogy  with  it. 

The  passage  in  the  book  of  Genesis  speaks  of  the  Tigris 
as  one  of  the  rivers  that  watered  the  garden  of  Eden.  "  And 
the  name  of  the  third  river  is  Hiddekel :  that  is  it  Avhich 
goeth  toward  the  east  of  Assyria  ;"  that  is,  towards,  or  before, 
Assyria.  Rennell,  in  his  Geography  of  Herodotus,  describes 
the  source  of  the  Tigris  thus :  "  The  Eiiphrates  and  Tigris 
spring  from  opposite  sides  of  Mount  Taurus,  in  Armenia  ; 
the  former,  from  its  upper  level,  northward  ;  the  latter,  from 
its  southern  declivity ;  and  certain  of  the  sources  of  the  two 
rivers  are  only  separated  by  the  summits  of  Taurus.  And 
yet,  notwithstanding  this  vicinity,  the  sources  of  the  Tigris, 
by  being  in  a  goiithern  exposure,  where  the  snow  melts  much 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  19 

earlier  than  at  the  back  of  the  mountain,  and  in  a  more  ele- 
vated situation,  occasion  the  periodical  swelling  of  the  river 
to  happen  many  weeks  earlier  than  the  swellings  of  the 
Euphrates.  Of  the  two,  the  Tigris  seems  to  be  the  largest 
body  of  water."  Pliny  represents  the  Tigris  as  rising  in  the 
region  of  Armenia  Major,  from  a  spring  in  a  remarkable 
plain,  called  Elongosine.  It  runs,  he  says,  through  the  lake 
Arethusa,  and  meeting  with  Mount  Taurus,  buries  itself  un- 
derground, and  rises  again  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountain. 
This  account  of  Pliny  has  been  adopted  by  Milton,  in  the  fine 
description  he  gives  of  the  garden  of  Eden.  Describing  the 
rise  and  course  of  the  river  which  watered  the  garden,  issuing 
from  the  country  of  Eden,  he  says  : 

"  Southward  through  Eden,  went  a  river  large, 
Nor  changed  his  course,  but  through  the  shaggy  hill, 
Pass'd  underneath,  ingulph'd ;  for  God  had  thrown 
That  mountain,  as  his  garden-mound,  high  raised 
Upon  the  rapid  current,  which  through  veins 
Of  porous  earth,  with  kindly  thirst  updrawn, 
Rose  a  fresh  fountain,  and  with  many  a  rill 
Water'd  the  garden ;  thence  united,  fell 
Down  the  steep  glade,  and  met  the  nether  flood, 
Which  from  his  darksome  passage  now  appears ; 
And  now  divided  into  four  main  streams, 
Runs  diverse,  wand'ring  many  a  famous  realm 
And  country,"— iv.  223-235. 

That  by  "  the  river  large"  the  poet  meant  the  Tigris,  ap- 
pears evident  from  the  parallel  passage,  wherein  he  describes 
Satan  as  obtaining  admission  into  the  garden  through  the 
subterranean  course,  which  lay  remotest  from  the  cherubic 
watch  at  the  entrance. 


-There  was  a  place. 


Now  not,  (though  sin,  not  time,  first  wrought  the  change,) 

Where  Tigris,  at  the  foot  of  Paradise, 

Into  a  gulf,  shot  underground,  till  part 

Rose  up  a  fountain,  by  the  tree  of  life. 

In  with  the  river  sank,  and  with  it  rose 

Satan,  involved  in  rising  mist;  then  sought 

Where  to  lie  hid." ix.  69.-76. 

The  whole  course  of  the  Tigris  to  the  sea  is  854  British 
miles  ;  thus : — From  the  remotest  source  to  Korna,  is  734 
miles,  and  from  thence  to  the  sea,  120  miles  ;  in  all,  854,  ex- 
clusive of  the  windings.  From  the  source  to  Diyarbekr,  65  ; 
from  Diyarbekr  to  Mosul,  230  ;  from  Mosul  to  Bagdad,  224  ; 
from  Bagdad  to  the  mouth  of  the  Deeallah,  15  ;  to  the  Synne, 


20  HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYHIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

or  river  of  Mendali,  70  ;  from  the  Mendali  Su,  to  the  Hud, 
or  ancient  Gyndes,  100  ;  from  thence  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Kera,  or  Kara  Su,  60  ;  and  from  Kara  Su  to  the  sea,  90 : 
total,  854. 

From  our  imperfect  knowledge  of  Asiatic  geography,  it  is 
impossible  to  fix  precisely  the  remotest  source  of  the  Tigris. 
It  appears  to  have  two  sources  ;  one  from  the  southern  route 
of  the  Taurus,  and  the  other  from  the  northern  front  of  the 
same  range  :  the  intervening  space  being  either  a  collection 
of  small  valleys,  or  a  large  valley,  watered  by  different 
streams,  which  fall  into  one  or  the  other  of  the  branches. 
The  western  branch  runs  north-east  along  the  foot  of  another 
ridge  of  Taurus,  by  which  it  is  divided  from  the  small  lake 
of  Gurgick,  the  Colchis  of  the  ancients.  It  then  runs  east  to 
Maaden,  or  the  mine  town,  about  four  hours'  journey,  or 
eighteen  miles  west  from  Agana,  where,  when  the  water  is 
low,  it  is  not  above  twenty  feet  wide.  At  Agana,  it  enters 
the  great  valley  of  Diyarbekr,  fifty-two  miles  north-west  of 
that  city,  through  the  gorge  formed  by  the  junction  of  the 
Niphates  and  Masius,  which  here  form  the  western  hmits  of 
the  valley.  This  branch  is  joined  a  few  miles  above  Diyar- 
bekr, or  Amida,  by  the  northern  branch  coming  from  the 
southern  slope  of  the  Niphates,  or  the  Nimrood  Dagh.  This 
branch  rises  sixty-five  miles  to  the  north-west  of  Diyarbekr, 
and  is  probably  the  largest  and  most  distant  branch  of  the 
two.  A  little  above  this  junction,  the  Tigris  receives  a  branch 
from  the  south.  At  Diyarbekr,  the  Tigris  is  fordable  at  all 
times,  except  when  swollen  by  the  rains  or  melted  snows, 
when  it  rises  to  a  great  height,  and  is  very  rapid.  Below 
this  city  it  receives  several  other  streams  from  Mount  Masius ; 
and  fifty  miles  below  Diyarbekr  it  receives  the  Batmum  Su,  a 
larger  stream  than  itself,  which  rises  in  Mount  Niphates,  and 
runs  from  the  north-east  to  the  south-west. 

In  its  further  progress  through  the  large  oval  valley  of 
Diyarbekr,  the  Tigris  receives  a  multitude  of  streams  on  the 
right  and  left  from  the  Karadgia  Dagler  and  the  Nimrood 
Dagh.  These  parallel  ridges  gradually  approximate  ;  the 
one  from  the  north-west,  and  the  other  from  the  south-west, 
till  they  form  a  stupendous  narrow  gorge,  through  which  the 
Tigris  rushes  onwards.  The  mountains  on  either  side  run 
so  close  to  the  river  bank,  and  rise  so  abruptly  from  their 
basis,  as  to  render  it  difficult  for  man  or  beast  to  penetrate  the 
lofty  defile. 

Eleven  geographical  miles  below  this  rocky  barrier,  the 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYHIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  21 

Tigris  forms  a  low  sandy  island,  three  miles  in  circumference, 
called  Jezeerat-ul-Omar,  or  Jezeerat-Beni-Omar,  signifying 
the  island  of  the  sons  of  Omar.  Of  the  two  branches  forming 
the  island,  the  northern  is  the  larger,  being  360  feet  wide, 
very  deep  and  rapid. 

From  Mosul  to  Bagdad,  the  Tigris  varies  greatly  in  depth 
and  breadth.  Between  the  Great  and  Little  Zab,  it  is  broad 
and  shallow,  interspersed  with  islands  spreading  from  half 
a  mile  to  a  mile  in  breadth.  Below  the  Little  Zab,  it  is  from 
600  yards  to  half  a  mile,  and  sometimes  a  mile  wide,  occa- 
sionally opening  into  a  vast  aqueous  expanse,  composed  of 
islands  and  channels.  At  Tekrit,  it  is  very  wide ;  and  at 
Samarra,  once  the  royal  seat  of  Abasside  khalifs,  it  is  a  mile 
broad,  with  high  banks,  but  shallow  sti^am. 

Below  the  mouth  of  the  Kufri  Su,  the  Tigris  is  reduced  to 
a  width  of  300  yards,  across  which  is  stationed  a  bridge  of 
boats.  Soon  after,  it  expands  to  half  a  mile  in  breadth.  At 
Bagdad,  it  is  about  870  feet  wide  from  bank  to  bank.  Below 
the  confluence  of  the  Deeallah,  the  Tigris,  augmented  by  the 
accession  of  this  large  stream,  assumes  a  magnificent  appear- 
ance, extending  at  intervals  to  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  even  two 
miles  wide,  with  high  and  steep  banks  elevated  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  river.  At  Koote-al- 
Hamara,  about  midway  between  Bagdad  and  Bussorah,  it  is 
a  mile  broad ;  and  at  this  place  the  Tigris  discharges  a  large 
branch  equal  to  the  Thames  at  London  Bridge,  called  the 
Shat-ul-Hye. 

Seven  miles  below  Koote-al-Hamara,  the  piers  of  an  ancient 
stone  bridge  are  to  be  seen  ;  but  by  whom,  and  at  what  date 
they  were  erected,  is  unknown. 

In  the  lower  part  of  its  course,  the  Tigris  runs  on  a  higher 
level  than  the  country  adjoining  its  banks  ;  hence  the  inun- 
dations are  great  on  both  sides  during  the  periodical  swellings. 

At  Kornah,  the  Tigris  combines  with  the  Euphrates,  and 
becomes  an  immense  stream,  and  so  deep,  that  a  large  frigate 
may  anchor  close  to  the  angle  of  land  formed  by  the  junction. 
Fifty  miles  below  Kornah  is  Bassora,  where  the  tide  rises 
and  falls  nine  feet ;  and  seventy  miles  below  this  city  it  falls 
into  the  Persian  Gulf  _     ^  ^ 

Like  the  Nile,  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  the  Tigris 
overflows  its  banks.  According  to  Parsons,  who  spent  most 
of  a  summer  and  autumn  at  Bagdad,  and  whose  account  ap- 
pears to  demand  greater  credence  than  any  other,  the  com- 
mencement of  this  periodical  inundation,  or  rise,  begins  in  the 


22  mSTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

latter  end  of  October,  and  continues  to  June  7,  or  a  space  of 
nearly  eight  months.  For  about  a  week,  the  river  continued 
stationary ;  and  the  first  symptom  of  decrease  took  place  on 
the  14th  of  the  same  month.  At  this  date,  it  fell  an  inch  and 
a  half,  and  continued  gradually  to  fall  till  September  30, 
when  the  river  was  at  the  lowest.  The  amount  of  decrease, 
from  June  14  to  September  30,  was  thirty-one  feet  ten  inches, 
which,  added  to  fourteen  feet  six  inches,  its  depth  at  the  latter 
date  when  at  its  lowest,  makes  the  total  depth  of  the  Tigris, 
at  the  maximum  of  its  height,  forty-six  feet  four  inches.  The 
depth  was  taken  by  Parsons  in  the  centre  of  the  stream,  op- 
posite the  middle  of  the  bridge  of  boats.  The  breadth  of  the 
river  he  states  to  be,  at  this  point,  87 1  feet,  from  bank  to  bank. 
The  hydrographic  ba«in  of  the  Tigris  may  be  considered  as 
enclosing  an  area  of  36,000  geographical  miles. 

There  is  an  illusion  to  the  overflowing  of  the  Tigris  in  the 
book  of  Nahum.  That  prophet,  in  denouncing  the  destruc- 
tion of  Nineveh,  says : 

"  The  gates  of  the  rivers  shall  be  opened, 
And  the  palace  shall  be  dissolved." — Nah.  ii,  6. 

And  again : 

"  But  with  an  overrunning  flood 
He  will  make  an  utter  end  of  the  place  thereof, 
And  darkness  shall  pursue  his  enemies." — Nah.  i.  8. 

Both  these  passages  mark  distinctly  the  agency  of  an  inun- 
dation in  opening  the  way  to  the  beseigers  (the  Medes)  of 
Nineveh.  Diodoris  says,  that  the  king  of  Assyria  was  greatly 
encouraged  by  an  ancient  prophecy.  That  Nineveh  should 
never  be  taken  until  the  river  became  its  enemy ;  and  that 
when  the  Tigris  overflowed  its  banks,  and  swept  away  about 
twenty  furlongs  of  its  wall,  he  was  filled  with  such  conster- 
natiori  and  despair,  that  recalling  to  memory  the  words  of  the 
prophecy,  he  gave  all  up  for  lost. 

This  historian  does  not  specify  the  time  of  year  in  which 
this  inundation  of  the  Tigris  occurred  ;  hence  it  is  not  cer- 
tain by  which  of  the  causes  (which  still  periodically  operate 
m  swelling  its  streams,  and  which  sometimes  occasion  it  to 
overflow  its  banks  to  an  alarming  extent)  it  was  produced. 
In  autumn  it  is  swollen  by  rains,  and  in  the  spring  by  the 
melting  of  the  snows  in  the  mountains  of  Armenia.  The 
latter  cause  replenishes  the  river  more  than  the  former  and 
more  frequently  causes  inundations ;  hence,  it  is  supposed,  it 


HISTORY  OF   THE   ASSYUIANS   AND   CHALDEAN8.  28 

was  by  this  the  proud  walls  of  Nineveh  were  cast  down.  A 
circumstance,  remarkably  illustrative  of  this  event,  occurred 
A.  D.  1831,  to  the  great  city  Bagdad,  that  now  exists  on  the 
same  river.  While  the  inhabitants  were  anticipating  a  seige, 
the  river  overflowed  its  banks,  producing  one  of  the  most  ex- 
tensive and  destructive  river  inundations  recorded  in  history. 
In  one  night,  a  great  part  of  the  city  wall,  with  a  great  num- 
ber of  houses,  were  overthrown  by  the  irruption  of  the  wa- 
ters, and  thousands  of  the  sleeping  inhabitants  perished. 

BABYLONIA,  OR  CHALDEA. 

This  portion  of  the  Assyrian  empire  was  a  part  of  that 
territory  called  in  Scripture,  "  the  land  of  Shinar,"  Gen.  xi. 
2  ;  a  name  it  retained  till  the  days  of  the  prophet  Daniel, 
Dan.  i.  2.  The  name  of  Babylonia  is  generally  supposed 
to  have  been  borrowed  from  the  town  of  Babel,  and  the  name 
of  Chaldea  from  the  Chaldeans,  or  Chasdim.  Sometimes, 
these  two  names  extend  to  the  whole  country,  being  taken 
indifferently  for  each  other,  and  sometimes  they  are  limited 
to  certain  districts  ;  by  Babylonia,  being  meant  the  country 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Babylon ;  and  by  Chal- 
dea, that  which  extends  southward  to  the  Persian  Gulf 
Chaldea  is  used  by  sacred  writers  for  the  whole  country,  and 
Babylonia  by  profane  writers.  The  limits  of  Babylonia  have 
been  already  defined ;  hence  it  need  only  be  observed  here, 
that  it  nearly  corresponds  to  the  present  Irak  Arabi. 

The  plain  of  Babylon,  properly  so  called,  extends  from 
Pylae  on  the  Euphrates,  to  the  district  of  Accad,  or  Sittacene. 
It  is  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  marshes  of  Lemlun,  and 
on  the  north  by  the  Median  wall,  which,  according  to  Xeno- 
phon,  was  fifty-eight  miles  in  length. 

This  plain,  (so  celebrated  as  the  spot  to  which  the  descend- 
ants of  Noah  attached  themselves,  and  as  involving  the  fall 
of  empires,  and  the  destruction  of  cities,)  in  ancient  times, 
and  even  as  late  as  the  days  of  Xenophon,  was  a  highly  cul- 
tivated and  fertile  country.  This  did  not  arise  from  the  fer- 
tilizing influences  of  the  atmosphere,  nor  from  the  inunda- 
tions of  the  river  Euphrates,  but  from  artificial  means.  He- 
rodotus says,  that  the  inhabitants  either  watered  the  country 
by  the  hand,  or  dug  trenches,  or  canals,  for  its  refreshment 
and  fecundation.  Hence  it  was,  combined  with  the  richness 
of  its  soil  and  an  excellent  climate,  that  it  was  agj^y  compared 
by  this  author  to  Egypt. 


24  HISTORY  OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS. 


ANCIENT   CANALS. 

The  antiquity  of  the  canals  of  Babylonia  dates  from  the 
remotest  period  of  the  Chaldceo-Babylonian  monarchy.  The 
great  empire  of  Babylonia  arose  upon  this  alluvial  plain, 
amid  a  system  of  irrigation  and  draining,  which  spread  like 
net-work  over  the  land.  It  was  crossed  by  innumerable 
canals  in  all  directions,  the  largest  of  them  being  navigable, 
and  feeding  others  ;  diminishing  in  importance  as  they  re- 
ceded from  the  trunk.  These,  as  well  as  the  parent  river, 
were  bordered  with  vast  numbers  of  hydraulic  machines,  by 
which  the  water  was  raised  and  distributed  into  the  fields  and 
gardens.  The  exact  number  of  these  canals  it  is  now  im- 
possible to  determine,  as  the  ancients  are  not  only  confused, 
but  often  contradict  each  other  in  their  description  of  them. 
Their  number  would,  indeed,  depend  much  upon  the  political 
state  of  the  country.  Doubtless,  they  were  most  numerous, 
and  kept  in  the  best  repair,  during  the  flourishing  period  of 
the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  dynasties.  When  Nineveh 
was  destroyed,  however,  and  Babylon  ceased  to  be  the  capital 
of  an  empire  ;  when  the  seat  of  royalty  was  transferred  to 
Susa  and  Persepolis  ;  and  the  navigation  of  the  Euphrates 
from  the  sea  was  stopped  by  the  Persians  ;  and  cities  on  the 
Euphrates  and  Tigris  were  mouldering  away ;  the  prosper- 
ous state  of  the  canals  would  be  interrupted,  and  some  of  them 
would  probably  go  to  ruin.  But  when  the  seat  of  power, 
during  the  Parthian  and  Sassanian  dynasties,  was  once  more 
transferred  to  the  Tigris,  the  canals  would  be  repaired  and 
new  ones  excavated,  as  new  cities  arose  in  the  vicinity. 
Hence,  in  the  days  of  Julian,  Ammianus  Marcellinus  de- 
scribes the  country  of  Babylonia,  called  Assyria  by  him,  as 
being  full  of  populous  cities,  date  gardens  and  canals.  But 
a  change  once  more  took  place  under  the  baneful  influence 
of  Mohammedanism ;  and  although  during  the  khalifate  of 
Bagdad,  a  temporary  prosperity  was  experienced,  yet  that 
was  soon  overthrown  by  the  ravages  of  the  Turks  and  Tar- 
tars, and  a  country  which  was  once  as  the  garden  of  Eden, 
lovely  in  appearance,  became  remarkable  for  sterility,  poverty 
and  neglect. 

On  the  map  of  Rennell,  there  are  eight  of  these  commu- 
nicating canals,  exclusive  of  smaller  ones,  the  traces  of  several 
of  which  are  still  visible,  but  many  more  have  been  destroyed. 
In  the  days  f^  the  khalifate,  four  canals  of  communication  are 
recorded  by  Abulfeda  to  have  existed  ;  but  at  present,  and  for 


HISTOR.Y   OF   THE    ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  25 

several  ages  back,  one  only  has  remained  open,  and  even  that 
one  runs  only  during-  the  period  of  the  floods  of  the  Eu- 
phrates.    I'his  is  called  the 

Nahar  Isa,  or  the  canal  of  Isa.  This  was  the  first  and 
most  northerly  of  these  ancient  canals,  and  it  was  derived 
from  the  Euphrates,  at  a  place  called  Dehmah,  near  Anbar, 
the  Macepracta  of  Julian.  In  the  time  of  Abulfeda,  it  lost 
itself  in  the  Tigris,  in  the  heart  of  western  Bagdad.  By 
Ammianus  Marcellinus  it  was  called  Barax,  or  Baia  Malchi  ; 
its  modern  name  was  derived  from  Isa  Ibn  Abdullah  Ibn 
Abbas. 

Nahar  Sarsar. — No  traces  of  the  Sarsar  canal,  which  ex- 
isted under  the  khalifs,  are  now  visible.  It  seems  to  have 
been  a  very  ancient  canal,  as  it  is  one  of  those  mentioned  by 
Xenophon,  which  joined  the  Tigris  immediately  below  Sit- 
tace,  and  which  seems  to  have  been  the  shortest  of  all  the 
canals  between  the  two  rivers.  It  derived  its  sources  below 
the  Isa,  and  flowed  into  the  Tigris  above  Madayn,  which  cor- 
responds to  the  modern  Zimberaniyah.  Ammianus  notices 
a  canal  between  Macepracta  and  Perisabor,  on  the  Nahar 
Malcha,  which  is  identified  with  the  Sarsar.  He  denomi- 
nates it  Maogamalcha,  and  mentions  a  city  of  that  name  in 
connexion  with  it. 

Nahar  Malcha. — The  bed  of  the  Nahar  Malcha,  or  Royal 
Canal,  is  still  traceable,  and  must  have  occupied  the  same 
position  in  Macedonian  and  Roman  times,  as  in  those  of  the 
khalifate.  Tradition  attributes  its  excavation  to  Nimrod,  and 
by  Tabari  it  is  described  as  the  work  of  Cush,  king  of  Babel ; 
from  which  we  may  conclude  that  its  origin  is  coeval  with 
the  earliest  period  of  the  Babylonian  monarchy.*  The  Na- 
har Malcha  extended  from  Macepracta,  on  the  Euphrates,  to 
Seleucia,  on  the  Tigris,  and  it  was  the  canal  by  which  Trajan 
and  Julian  transported  their  respective  armies  to  Ctesiphon. 
Herodotus  says  it  was  of  sufficient  breadth  and  depth  to  be 
navigable  for  merchant  vessels  ;  hence  it  is,  that  some  theo- 
logical writers  have  considered  it  as  the  ancient  bed  of  the 
Euphrates. 

Kntha  Canal. — According  to  Abulfeda,  this  canal  was  de- 
rived from  the  Euphrates,  a  little  below  the  Nahar  Malcha, 
and  it  watered  the  territory  of  Irak.  It  is  mentioned  by  Ah- 
med Ibn  Yusuf,  and  is  the  same  as  the  Kawa  of  Rennell.    It 

*  Abydenus  attributes  it  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  excavated  it,  he  says, 
to  convey  the  waters  of  the  Euphrates,  when  it  overflowed,  into  the 
Tigris,  before  they  reached  Babylon. 
^    VOL.    II.  3 


26  HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

derived  its  name  from  Kutha,  near  Babel,  in  the  province  of 
Irak,  where  the  text  of  the  Talmud,  in  Bava  Vathra,  says, 
that  the  patriarch  Abraham  was  imprisoned  three  years. 

Besides  these  canals,  which  are  termed  the  canals  of  Xeno- 
phon,  there  were  many  others,  the  names  of  which  are  un- 
known. Thus  below  Samarra,  once  the  regal  seat  of  several 
Abasside  khalifs,  there  was  a  large  canal  drawn  to  a  consi- 
derable distance  to  the  west  of  the  Tigris,  and  which  ex- 
tended from  thence  as  far  south  as  the  canals  of  communica- 
tion, three  of  which  were  intersected  by  this  large  branch, 
and  the  third  of  which  reconveyed  its  waters  at  the  place  now 
called  Imaum  Musa,  three  miles  above  the  bridge  of  Bagdad, 
and  at  the  termination  of  the  Median  wall.  The  space  in- 
cluded by  this  large  canal  between  Samarra  and  Imaum  Musa 
was  denominated  by  both  Greek  and  Roman  geographers, 
Mesene,  or  "  the  island,"  and  Apamia  Mesene,  from  the  city 
of  Apamia,  below  Samarra.  This  was  a  beautiful,  fertile, 
and  populous  tract,  being  also  intersected  with  other  canals, 
drawn  from  the  large  canal  to  the  Tigris.  It  was  navigable, 
and  from  its  size  was  called  Didjel,  or  "  Little  Tigris."  From 
the  Euphrates,  two  other  canals  were  drawn  to  the  Didjel. 
The  first  of  these  commenced  about  thirty  geographical  miles 
from  the  Pass  of  Pylce ;  the  second,  seen  by  Balbi,  com- 
menced four  geographical  miles  below  this.  Two  other 
canals  are  mentioned  by  Xenophon,  as  occurring  in  the  space 
of  three  parasangs,  or  about  eight  miles  from  this. 

Canals  of  Babylon. — In  the  time  of  Abulfeda,  when  the 
Nahar  Malcha  ceased  to  carry  off  a  main  part  of  the  waters 
of  the  Euphrates,  this  river  is  described  as  dividing,  after 
passing  the  Nahar  Kulbah  by  six  parasangs,  or  about  fifteen 
miles,  into  two  streams,  previous  to  which,  it  parted  with  more 
canals,  which  belonged  to  the  city  of  Babylon  Proper.  The 
quarter  of  Babylon  called  Bosippa,  or  Bursif,  had  its  canal ; 
and  Abulfeda  describes  the  main  stream  of  the  Euphrates  as 
flowing  to  the  city  of  Nil,  that  quarter  in  which  Babylon  was 
situated,  and  giving  off  the  canal  of  Nil,  after  which  it  is 
called  Nahar  Sirat.  The  mounds  of  Babel,  and  the  Mujelibe, 
or  "overturned,"  are  nearly  surrounded  by  two  canals  which 
bear  that  name  at  the  present  date.  The  Euphrates,  more- 
over, in  all  probability,  flowed  between  the  Kasr,  or  palace, 
and  the  Amram,  which  is  identified  with  the  western  palace 
of  Diodorus.  On  the  authority  of  Abulfeda,  the  Euphrates, 
after  passing  the  Nahat  Kulba  by  the  distance  before  men- 
tioned, and  giving  off'  the  Nil,  was  divided  into  two  streams, 


HISTORY   OP   TIIE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  27 

the  southernmost  of  which  passed  into  Kufah,  and  going  be- 
yond it,  was  lost  in  the  marshes  of  the  Rumiyah.  Anterior 
to  the  days  of  this  geographer,  it  flowed  by  Ur,  or  Orchoe, 
being  joined  in  the  parallel  of  Davamyeh  by  the  Pallacopas 
of  Alexander,  and  ultimately  emptied  itself  into  the  sea  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Teredon.  The  same  authority  describes 
the  prolongation  of  the  larger  branch  of  the  Euphrates,  be- 
yond the  Kasr  Ibn  Hobierah,  by  the  name  of  Nahar  Sares. 
This  name  means  "  fetid  river,"  and  it  appears  to  have  been 
given  to  that  portion  of  the  Euphrates  which  lay  below  the 
Royal  Canal,  at  a  time  when  that  derivative  carried  away  a 
large  part  of  the  waters  of  the  Great  River.  The  remainder, 
flowing  sluggishly  onward,  by  Babel  and  Suza,  to  lose  itself 
in  the  marshes  of  Babylon,  became  impure  from  stagnation, 
and  hence  it  obtained  its  name. 


MODERN   CANALS. 

Among  the  canals  of  more  recent  date,  according  to  Al 
Brissi,  was  that  of  the  Rehoboth  of  Scripture,  Gen.  x.  11  ; 
and,  upon  the  same  authority,  and  that  of  most  oriental  geo- 
graphers, the  canal  Al  Kadder,  or  Alcator.  Tavo  other 
canals  are  mentioned,  under  the  names  of  the  Kerbelah,  and 
the  Nesjiff  canal.  The  Kerbelah  canal  derived  its  name  from 
Kerbelah,  a  populous  town  in  the  time  of  Abdul  Khurrim. 
This  canal  was  reopened  by  Hassan  Pasha,  of  Bagdad,  at  an 
expense  of  20,000/.  sterling,  after  the  Persians  had  retreated 
to  the  tomb  of  their  prophet,  from  the  oppressions  of  Nadir 
Shah.  The  Nesjiff  canal  was  constructed  by  the  Nadir  Shah ; 
and,  according  to  Abdal  Khurrim,  it  is  sixteen  parasangs,  or 
about  forty  miles,  from  Kerbelah,  and  one  from  Kufali.  Of 
the  present  appearance  of  Babylonia,  Ainsworth  says — "  The 
great  extent  of  the  plain  of  Babylonia  is  every  where  altered  by 
artificial  works:  mounds  rise  upon  the  otherwise  uniform 
level;  walls,  and  mud  ramparts,  and  dykes  intersect  each 
other ;  elevated  masses  of  friable  soil  and  pottery  are  suc- 
ceeded by  low  plains,  inundated  during  great  part  of  the  year; 
and  the  antique  beds  of  canals  are  visible  in  every  direction. 
There  is  still  some  cultivation,  and  some  irrigation.  Flocks 
pasture  in  meadows  of  the  coarse  grasses,  (sedges  and  cype- 
raceoe  :)  the  Arabs'  dusky  encampaments  are  met  with  here 
and  there;  but,  except  on  Euphrates'  banks,  there  are  few  re- 
mains of  the  date  groves,  the  vineyards,  and  the  gardens, 
which  adorned  the  same  land  in  the  days  of  Artaxerxes ;  and 


28  mSTOEY  OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

Still  less  of  the  population  and  labour,  wliich  must  have 
made  a  garden  of  such  a  soil,  in  the  times  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar." 

This  leads  to  a  notice  of 


THE    EUPHPwATES. 

The  original  Hebrew  name  of  this  river  was  Phrat,  by 
which  name  it  is  locally  distinguished  to  the  present  day,  the 
elements  of  which  still  remain  in  what  we  have  adopted  from 
the  Greek. 

In  Scripture,  the  Euphrates  is  frequently  mentioned  as 
"the  great  river,"  to  which  distinction  it  is  fully  entitled. 
The  stream  of  the  Euphrates  rises  in  two  widely  separated 
sources,  one  in  the  elevated  regions  of  Armenia,  near  Erze- 
roum,  and  the  other  near  town  of  Bayazid,  on  the  Persian 
frontier.  The  junction  of  these  streams  takes  place  in  the  re- 
cesses of  the  Taurus,  near  the  town  of  the  Kebban.  After 
having  pierced  the  mountains,  the  river  continues  its  south- 
western course  towards  the  Mediterranean ;  but  being  re- 
pelled by  the  mountains  near  Samosata,  it  inclines  a  little  to 
the  south-east,  and  afterwards  takes  more  decidedly  that  direc- 
tion, which  it  pursues,  until  it  ultimately  joins  the  Tigris  at 
Korna,  in  Irak  Arabi.  The  united  stream  then  takes  the 
name  of  Shut  ul  Arab,  or  river  of  the  Arabs,  and  finally 
enters  the  Persian  Gulf,  above  seventy  miles  below  the  city 
of  Bussora. 

The  total  course  of  the  Euphrates  is  estimated  at  1755 
British  miles.  Its  breadth  from  Bir  to  its  junction  with  the 
Tigris,  varies  from  300  to  450  yards,  though  it  is  occasionally 
little  more  than  half  that  breadth.  At  times,  where  islands 
occur  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  it  widens  to  800  yards,  and 
in  some  instances  to  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  breadth.  Con- 
cerning the  breadth  of  rivers,  lakes,  and  inlets  of  the  sea,  how- 
ever, the  guesses  of  ordinary  travellers  are  generally  vague. 
The  comparative  size  of  the  basin  of  the  Euphrates,  including 
that  of  the  Tigris,  is  forty-two  times  larger  than  that  of  the 
Thames,  and  its  annual  average  discharge  108,000  cubical 
feet  per  second,  or  sixty  times  that  of  the  Thames.  Of  itself, 
the  basin  of  the  Euphrates  may  be  considered  as  enclosing  an 
area  of  180,000  geographical  miles. 

The  stream  of  the  Euphrates  flows  at  the  rate  of  five  miles 
an  hour,  in  the  season  of  the  flood ;  but  at  other  times  it  does 
not  exceed  three  miles  an  hour  in  the  greater   part  of  its 


HISTORY   OF   THE    ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  29 

course.  Rich  however,  says,  that  at  Hillah,  the  maximum 
velocity  of  the  Euphrates  is  seven  miles  an  hour ;  and  Ains- 
worth  reports  that  the  rapidity  of  the  stream  varies  in  different 
places.  He  says,  in  the  depressions  of  the  alluvial  plain,  it  is 
often  not  a  mile  an  hour,  but  over  the  high  ground,  as  at 
Kalat  Gerah,  it  runs  nearly  three  miles  an  hour;  that  at 
Hillah,  where  the  stream  is  confined,  it  flows  four  knots 
through  the  bridge^  and  that  the  Upper  Euphrates  averages 
from  three  to  four  miles. 

The  Euphrates  flowing,  in  the  lower  portion  of  its  course, 
through  a  vast  plain  between  low  banks,  the  periodical  in- 
crease of  its  waters  causes  it  to  overflow,  like  the  Nile,  some- 
times inundating  the  country  to  a  great  extent,  and  leaving 
extensive  lakes  and  marshes  in  its  neighbourhood,  after  the 
river  has  retired  to  ks  channel.  The  rise  of  the  Euphrates 
begins  in  March,  and  continues  till  the  commencement  of 
June,  at  which  time,  there  is  nowhere  less  than  from  twelve  to 
sixteen  feet  depth  of  water.  In  the  low  season,  it  is  generally 
from  six  to  ten  feet ;  but  in  some  places,  even  at  this  season, 
it  is  eighteen  feet.  In  describing  the  average  depth,  the  na- 
tives are  accustomed  to  say,  that  is  equal  to  the  height  of  two 
men.  The  water  is  lowest  in  November  and  the  three  suc- 
ceeding months  •  but  sometimes  there  is  a  slight  increase  in 
January. 

Ainsworth,  in  describing  the  alluvial  soil,  which  the 
Euphrates,  like  the  Nile,  brings  down  in  its  course,  says: 
"The  period  at  which  the  waters  of  Euphrates  are  most 
loaded  with  mud,  are  in  the  first  floods  of  January ;  the  gra- 
dual mehing  of  the  snows  in  early  summer,  which  preserve 
the  high  level  of  the  waters,  do  not,  at  the  same  time,  contri- 
bute much  sedimentary  matter.  From  numerous  experiments 
made  at  Bir,  in  December  and  January,  1836,  I  found  the 
maximum  of  sediment  mechanically  suspended  in  the  waters, 
to  be  equal  to  l-80th  part  of  the  bulk  of  the  fluid,  or  every 
cubic  inch  of  water  contained  l-80th  part  c^  its  bulk  of  sus- 
pended matters ;  and  from  similar  experiments,  instituted  in 
the  month  of  October  of  the  same  year,  at  the  issue  of  the 
waters  from  the  Lemlun  Marshes,  I  only  obtained  a  maximum 
of  l-200th  part  of  a  cubic  inch  of  water  (mean  temp.  74°.) 
The  sediments  of  the  river  Euphrates,  which  are  not  deposited 
in  the  upper  part  of  the  river's  course,  are  finally  deposited 
in  the  Lemlun  Marshes.  In  navigating  the  river  in  May, 
1836,  the  water  flowing  into  the  marshes  was  coloured  deeply 
by  mud,  but  left  the  marshes  in  a  state  of  comparative  purity, 

3* 


30  HISTORY   OP   THE   ASSYRIANS    AND    CHALDEANS. 

and  this  is  equally  the  case  in  the  Chaldean  Marshes,  helow 
Orun  el  Bak,  the  "Mother  of  Musquitoes." 

According  to  Pliny,  the  ancient  method  of  navigating  the 
Euphrates  was  very  remarkable.  The  vessels  used  were 
round,  without  distinction  of  head  or  stern,  and  little  better 
than  wicker  baskets  coated  over  with  hides,  which  were 
guided  along  with  oars  or  paddles.  These  vessels  were  of 
different  sizes,  and  some  of  them  capable  of  carrying  burdens 
of  palm  wine  or  other  merchandize,  to  the  weight  of  5,000 
talents,  (equal,  according  to  Bishop  Cumberland's  calculation, 
to  about  sixty-two  tons  English,)  having,  according  to  their 
size,  beasts  of  burden  on  board.  When  the  vessels  had  thus 
fallen  down  the  river  to  Babylon,  the  crew  unloaded  their 
car^o,  and  sold  their  vessel,  but  kept  the  hides,  and,  loading 
their  beasts  with  them,  retu^rned  home  by  land,  the  force  of 
the  stream  preventing  their  backward  course  by  water :  steam 
navigation  alone  can  overcome  this  disadvantage. 

THE  PRODUCTIONS  OF  BABYLONIA. 

Herodotus  declares  that,  of  all  the  countries  he  had  visited, 
none  was  so  suitable  as  Babylonia  for  cuhivation;  and  he 
says  that  the  return  was  generally  two  and  sometimes  three 
hundred  fold,  in  which  testimony  Strabo,  the  first  of  ancient 
geographers,  agrees.  This  fertility  arose  from  the  system  of 
irrigation  before  described,  as  well  as  from  the  richness  of  the 
alluvial  soil  of  the  plain  and  the  salubrity  of  the  climate.  It 
does  not  appear,  however,  that  the  plains  of  Babylonia 
abounded  in  the  various  luxuries  of  life.  The  contrary,  in- 
deed, appears  from  the  songs  of  the  captive  Hebrews,  while 
sitting  on  the  margin  of  its  waters.  This  song  shows  how 
acutely  they  regretted  their  exile  from  their  own  pleasant  land, 
the  land  of  the  olive  and  vine,  (which  Babylonia  is  not,  in  the 
strict  sense  of  the  word,)  and  their  own  possessions  and  high 
enjoyments  there.     See  Psa.  cxxxvii. 

The  productions  for  which  Babylonia  was  chiefly  celebrated 
were  the  date  palm,  which  flourished  naturally  through  the 
breadth  of  the  plain,  and  which  afforded  the  Babylonians 
meat,  wine,  and  honey ;  sesame,  which  affords  them  oil  in- 
stead of  the  olive  ;  barley,  millet,  and  wheat.  For  grain,  it 
exceeded  every  other  land.  The  millet  and  the  sesame,  says 
Herodotus,  grew  up  as  trees,  and  the  leaves  of  the  barley  and 
wheat  were  four  fingers  broad.  Babylonia,  indeed,  for  vege- 
table productionsj  in  ancient  times,  might  be  justly  compared 


HISTORY   OF   THE    ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  31 

with  Eg-ypt.  But  it  is  not  so  now.  According  to  the  predic- 
tion of  the  prophet,  the  sower  is  cut  off  from  Babylon,  and  a 
drought  is  upon  her  waters,  and  they  are  dried  up,  Jer.  1.  16, 
38.  All  is  now  an  arid  desert,  offering  only  some  few  patches 
of  cultivation  near  the  few  settlements  which  it  contains.  The 
grove  trees,  so  numerous,  beautiful  and  flourishing,  in  the 
days  of  Xenophon  and  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  have  disap- 
peared with  the  villages,  and  are  only  to  be  found  in  and 
about  the  principal  tov;ns,  a  few  instances  excepted,  where 
they  mark  the  site  of  a  place  not  long  deserted.  In  the  city 
of  Babylon  itself,  which,  according  to  ancient  historians,  con- 
tained within  the  Walls  much  spare  ground  that  was  cultivated 
and  ploughed  for  corn,  there  are  now  no  pastures :  thus  lite- 
rally fulfilling  prophecy,  which  saith : — 

"  Neither  shall  the  Arabian  pitch  tent  there ; 
Neither  shall  the  shepherds  make  their  fold  there." — Isa.  xiii.  20. 

The  soil  of  Irak  Arabi,  which,  as  the  reader  has  seen  in 
a  former  page,  nearly  corresponds  to  ancient  Babylonia, 
may  in  general  be  characterized  as  a  sandy  clay,  covered 
with  the  rubbish  of  ruined  towns  and  canals.  The  banks 
of  the  Euphrates  and  Shat-al-Hie  are  not  so  perfectly  desolate 
as  those  of  the  Tigris ;  but  it  is  only  near  rivers  and  canals 
that  we  may  expect  any  redeeming  features  in  the  landscape. 
On  the  Euphrates,  the  territory  of  the  Khezail  Arabs  contains 
rich  pastures  and  good  cultivation,  and  many  villages.  But 
this  territory  is  very  limited,  and  all  the  remaining  portion  of 
the  plain  bears  its  testimony  to  the  truth  of  Holy  Writ,  which 


"  Behold,  the  hindermost  of  the  nations  shall  be 
A  wilderness,  a  dry  land,  and  a  desert." — Jer.  i.  12. 

The  banks  of  the  rivers,  and  particularly  the  Tigris,  are 
skirted  to  a  great  extent  with  the  tamarisk  shrub,  which  in 
some  places  attains  the  height  of  twenty  or  twenty-five  feet. 
The  common  tamarisk  of  the  country,  the  Athleh  or  Alte^  of 
Sonini,  is  the  Tamarisk  Orientalis  of  Forskal.  The  solitary 
tree  of  a  species  which,  Heeren  says,  is  altogether  strange  to 
this  country,  and  which  Rich  calls  Lignum  Vitce,  found 
growing  upon  the  ruins  of  the  Kasr  at  Babylon,  and  which 
has  been  supposed  to  be  a  last  remnant  or  offspring  of  the 
sloping  or  hanging  gardens,  that  appeared  to  Q^uintus  Cur- 
tius  like  a  forest,  is  also  a  tamarisk,  but  it  differs  from  the 
Athleh  in  size.     This  tree  possesses  scaly  branches  and  long 


82  HISTORY   OF    THE    ASSYRIANS    iVND    CHALDEANS. 

slender  petioles,  with  few  leaves  ;  the  appearance,  however,  is 
supposed  by  some  to*  have  been  produced  by  a  scanty  supply 
of  water  and  great  age,  from  whence  they  argue  that  it  may 
belong  to  the  common  species.  Curtius  says  this  tree  was 
eight  cubits,  near  fifteen  feet  in  girth.  The  tree  bears  every 
mark  of  antiquity  in  appearance,  situation,  and  tradition.  By 
the  Arabs  it  is  regarded  as  sacred,  from  a  tradition  that  it 
was  preserved  by  the  Almighty  from  the  earliest  times,  to  be 
a  refuge  in  after  ages  for  the  khahf  Ali,  who,  fainting  from 
fatigue  at  the  battle  of  Killah,  reposed  in  security  beneath  its 
shade.  It  must  have  been  more  than  1,000  years  old  at  the  re- 
puted time  of  the  engagement,  so  that  it  niay  be  supposed  a 
germ  from  the  royal  gardens  at  Babylon. 

The  willow  and  the  poplar  appear  in  Babylonia,  but  they 
rather  resemble  shrubs  than  trees,  and  are  more  rare  than  the 
former  plants.  The  willow  was  doubtless  more  abundant  on 
the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  in  ancient  times  •  for  the  Hebrews, 
in  their  captivity, 

"High  on  the  willoves,  att  untuned,  unstrung, 
Their  harps  suspended." 

Isaiah  speaks  of  Babylonia  as  "  The  brook  of  the  willows," 
or,  as  Prideaux  and  Bocharf  would  render  it,  "  The  valley 
of  the  \^411ows,"  Isa.  xv.  7.  Ainsworth  say^,  however,  that 
the  weeping  willow,  Saliz  Bahylonica^  is  not  met  with  in 
Babylonia,  and  that  a  poplar,  Gharab,  with  lanceolate  and 
cordate  leaves  on  separate  parts  of  the  same  branch,  has  been 
mistaken  for  a  willow. 

Tradition  states  that  the  castor  oil  plant  once  grew  luxu- 
riantly in  the  plains  of  Babylonia,  but  there  is  only  one  speci- 
men existing,  and  that  grows  as  a  tree  on  the  site  of  ancient 
Ctesiphon.  The  Asclepias  Syririca  is  tall  and  abundant  in 
some  places,  and  when  young,  though  deemed  by  us  poison, 
it  is  eaten  by  the  Arabs.  The  Carob  plant  sometimes  attains 
the  height  of  six  or  seven  feet.  Camel-thorn  is  very  common 
and  the  Arabs  express  a  sweet  juice  from  it,  and  eat  the  leaves 
as  we  do  spinach.  Among  other  plants  which  grow  in  this 
desolate  region,  are  a  rare  species  of  rue,  cnlacynth^  eheno-po- 
dium,  mucronatum  ;  a  beautiful  species  of  mesembriantke- 
mum,  carex,  alopecarus,  centaurea,  lithosjiermnm^  heliotrope^ 
lycium,  and  a  beautiful  twining  species  of  solanum.  The 
marshes  near  the  Tigris  are  thickly  covered  Avith  the  blos- 
soms of  the  white  floating  crowfoot.  Of  the  cultivated  fruit 
treeSj  near  the  tt>wnsj  the  date  palm  is  the  most  importantj  as 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS. 


83 


it  contributes  largely  to  the  subsistence  of  the  population. 
Grapes,  figs,  pomegranates,  quinces,  etc.,  are  good  ;  but  ap- 
ples, pears,  oranges,  etc,,  are  of  inferior  size  and  quality. 
Melons,  cucumbers,  onions,  and  other  plants  of  this  family  are 
abundant  and  excellent.  But  these  only  grow,  as  stated  be- 
fore, in  certain  parts  of  the  district.  The  plains  of  Babylonia, 
for  the  most  part  are  characterized,  according  to  the  sure 
word  of  prophecy,  by  desolation,  as  the  reader  will  discover 
more  at  large  in  the  ensuing  pages. 

CLIMATE. 

Babylonia,  generally  speaking,  enjoys  a  salubrious  and 
wholesome  air,  though  at  certain  seasons,  no  air  can  be  more 
dangerous.  Plutarch  relates,  that  the  heats  were  so  extraor- 
dinary, that  the  rich  were  accustomed  to  sleep  in  cisterns  of 
water.  The  country  is  exposed  to  a  pestilential  wind,  called 
the  Samiel  This  wind  is  popularly  considered  to  prevail 
during  forty  days,  but  its  actual  duration  is  often  twice  as  long. 
During  this  period,  it  commonly  rises  about  noon,  or  some- 
what earlier,  and  continues  until  three  or  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  It  is  felt  like  a  fiery  breeze  which  has  passed 
over  the  mouth  of  a  lime-kiln.  It  seldom  or  never  rains  in 
Babylonia,  during  the  space  of  eight  months  ;  and  it  has  been 
known  not  to  rain  for  two  years  and  a  half  Rauwolf  says, 
the  inhabitants  reckon,  that  if  it  rains  two  or  three  times  in  the 
year,  it  is  sufficient  for  their  purpose.  An  idea  may  be  gath- 
ered of  the  temperature  of  the  air  of  the  plains  of  Babylonia 
from  the  following  table,  which  was  taken  at  Bagdad,  situated 
in  its  vicinity,  in  the  years  1830  and  1831. 


1830. 
April 
May 
June 
July 
August 
September 
October 
November 
December 

1831. 
January 
February 
March 


Room. 

Open 

Shade. 

Sun. 

Lowest. 

o 

Highest. 

Lowest 

o  . 

Highest. 

Lowest,  Highest. 



81 



88 



113 

73 

94 

71 

108 

80 

122 

87 

98 

79 

109 

86 

125 

89 

102 

84 

113 

90 

134 

93 

104 

87 

119 

95 

140 

88 

97 

77 

106 

89 

127 

70 

90 

61 

100 

72 

121 

59 

77 

45 

84 

54 

102 

57 

64 

51 

67 

58 

90 

48 

63 

37 

68 

43 

88 

55 

66 

48 

77 

54 

95 

59 

52 

— 

61 

— . 

34  HISTORY   OF  THE   ASSYRIANS  AND   CHALDEANS, 

At  three  in  the  afternoon,  during  the  heat  of  the  summer; 
it  was  found  that  the  temperature  in  inhabited  cellars  was^ 
two  or  three  degrees  less  than  it  had  been  in  the  ordinary 
rooms  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  days  when  it 
was  taken. 


CHAPTER  II. 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  HISTORY  OP  ASSYRIA. 


Under  this  section,  the  reader  will  find  all  the  principal 
places  mentioned  in  the  sacred  writings,  and  by  profane  wri- 
ters, as  belonging  to  the  empire  of  Assyria.  We  com- 
mence with  those  mentioned  in  the  inspired  volume,  Gen.  x. 
and  xi. 

TOWER   OF    BABEL 

After  the  deluge,  it  appears  from  the  sacred  writings,  that 
the  children  of  Noah  congregated,  in  their  first  emigration, 
upon  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  in  "the  land  of  Shinar,"  and 
in  that  part  of  the  land  which  has  been  defined  under  the 
term  Babylonia.  While  there,  they  consulted  together,  to 
build  a  very  lofty  tower.  "  Go  to,"  said  they,  "  let  us  build 
us  a  city  and  a  tower,  whose  top  may  reach  unto  heaven ; 
and  let  us  make  us  a  name,  lest  we  be  scattered  abroad  upon 
the  face  of  the  whole  earth,"  Gen.  xi.  4.  The  plan  was  put 
into  execution,  the  tower  was  reaching  towards  heaven,  when 
the  work  was  stopped  by  the  Almighty.  He  confounded  the 
language  of  the  builders,  and,  by  this  new  dispensation,  scat- 
tered them  abroad  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  ver.  5 — 9. 

We  should  take  a  narrow  view  of  the  works  of  the  Al- 
mighty, if  we  supposed  that  he  looked  with  jealousy  on  this 
impotent  attempt.  Although  the  works  of  man  may  appear 
fair  and  magnificent  in  his  own  eyes,  yet  to  Him  they  are  no- 
thing ;  for  in  his  sight 

"  The  nations  are  as  a  drop  of  a  bucket, 
And  are  counted  as  the  small  dust  of  the  balance : 
Behold,  he  taketb  up  the  isles  as  a  very  little  thing.^' — Isa.  xl.  15, 

It  was  not  the  building  but  the  object,  which  was  displeas- 


36  HISTORY   OF  THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALD-EAN^, 

ing  in  the  sight  of  the  Alnlighfy  ;  and  hence  the  result  of  his 
displeasure,  their  dispersion. 

"  When  Babel  was  confounded,  and  the  great 
Confederacy  of  projectors,  wild  and  vain, 
Was  split  into  diversity  of  tongues, 
Then,  as  a  shepherd  separates  his  flock, 
These  to  the  lipland,  to  the  valley  thos^, 
God  drave  asunder,  and  assign'd  their  lot 
To  all  the  nations.     Ample  was  the  boon 
He  gave  them,  in  its  distribution  fair 
And  equal;  and  he  bade  them  dwell  in  peace." — Cowpjer. 

But  has  man  obeyed  his  high  commands  ?  Ask  of  history, 
and  of  observation,  and  they  will  answer,  No  !  The  same  rest- 
less ambition  has  been  displayed  by  man  in  all  ages  of  the 
world ;  and  many,  full  many,  are  the  Babel  builders  of  our  own 
day.  But  what  availeth  their  devices  and  designs  ?  Opposed 
by  the  powerful  arm  of  Omnipotence,  they  were  quickly 
brought  to  nought :  and  men  are  taught  to  experience  the 
truth  of  the  wise  man's  words,  that 

"There  is  no  wisdom,  nor  understanding 
Nor  counsel  against  the  Lord." — Prov.  xxL  30. 

He  sits  in  the  heavens,  and  defeats  the  impotent  attempts 
of  those  who  oppose  his  will ;  and  though  the  whole  world 
should  confederate  against  him,  the  rebuke  of  the  prophet 
might  be  applied  to  them  with  beautiful  propriety. 

"  Associate  yourselves,  O  ye  people,  and  ye  shall  be  broken  in  pieces ; 
And  give  ear,  all  ye  of  far  countries  ; 
Gird  yourselves,  and  ye  shall  be  broken  in  pieces ; 
Gird  yourselves,  and  ye  shall  be  broken  in  pieces- 
Take  counsel  together,  and  it  shall  come  to  nought . 
Speak  the  word,  and  it  shall  not  stand," — Isa.  viii.  9    10. 

It  is  the  wisdom  of  man  to  bow  at  the  footstool  of  his  Crea- 
tor, to  ask  of  him  wisdom  to  know,  and  strength  to  perform 
his  holy  will ;  it  is  his  happiness  to  lay  down  his  arms  of  re- 
bellion, and  to  seek  his  mercy  through  Christ. 

The  building  of  a  lofty  tower  is  applicable,  in  the  most  re- 
markable manner,  to  the  wide  and  level  plains  of  Babylonia. 
In  that  plain  no  object  exists,  different  to  another,  to  guide  the 
stranger  in  his  journeying  ;  and  which,  in  those  days,  as  in 
the  present,  was  a  sea  of  land,  the  compass  of  which  was  un- 
known. The  effect  of  these  high  places  remains  as  striking 
as  ever. 


HlSfOHY  OF  THE  ASSYRIANS  AND   CHALDEANS.  37 

"  Chaldean  beacons  over  the  drear  land 
Seen  faintly  from  thick  tower'd  Babylon 
Against  the  sunset." 

as  the  pile  of  Akkerkoof,  the  memorable  Birs,  and  the  still 
more  colossal  mounds  of  Urchoe,  Teredon,  and  Irak,  al- 
though they  deceive  the  traveller  as  to  distance,  yet  still  faith- 
fully guide  him  to  one  point  in  his  destination. 

There  is  no  statement  that  this  great  work  sustained  any 
damage  at  the  confusion :  it  is  simply  stated  that  the  erection 
ceased.  What,  were  its  precise  dimensions,  it  is  not  possible 
to  state :  different  writers  make  it  range  from  a  furlong  to 
five  thousand  miles  in  height !  As  there  was  no  stone  to  be 
found  in  the  alluvial  tract  washed  and  produced  by  the  floods 
of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  all  the  building,  of  whatever  kind, 
must  have  been  built  of  brick,  and  cemented  in  the  manner 
mentioned  in  Scripture.  "  And  they  had  brick  for  stone,  and 
slime  had  they  for  mortar,"  Gen.  xi.  3. 

It  is  generally  supposed,  that  this  fabric  was  in  a  consider- 
able state  of  forwardness  at  the  confusion,  and  that  it  could 
have  sustained  no  considerable  damage,  when  the  building 
of  Babylon  was  recommenced.  From  hence,  it  is  not  improb- 
able that  the  original  Tower  of  Babel  formed  the  nucleus 
of  that  amazing  tower  which,  in  the  time  of  the  early  authors 
of  classical  antiquity,  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  temple  which 
was  built  by  Nebuchadnezzaf,  in  honour  of  the  idol  god  Be- 
lus.     This  was  called  the 


TOWER   OP   BELtS. 

It  would  appear  that  Nebuchadnezzar,  whose  reign  coni- 
menced  about  605  years  b.  c,  took  the  idea  of  making  this 
ancient  pile  the  principal  ornament  of  the  city,  Avhich  it  was 
his  delight  to  render  famous.  The  earliest  authentic  irifor- 
mation  concerning  this  tower,  in  common  history,  is  derived 
from  the  pages  of  Herodotus.  This  author  did  not  inspect 
it,  however,  till  thirty  years  after  it  had  been  damaged  by 
Xerxes,  king  of  Persia,  who  did  so  in  his  indignation  against 
the  form  of  idolatry  with  which  it  had  become  associated. 
He  describes  the  spot  as  a  sacred  inclosure,  dedicated  to 
Jupiter  Belus,  consisting  of  a  regular  square,  of  1,000  feet  on 
each  side,  and  adorned  with  gates  of  brass.  In  the  midst  of 
this  area  arose  a  tower,  whose  length,  breadth,  and  ahitude, 
was  .500  feet.  The  structure  consisted  of  eight  towers,  one 
above  another,  and  on  the  outside,  steps  were  formed,  wind- 

VOL   II.  4 


88  HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS, 

ing  up  to  each  tower,  and  in  the  middle  of  every  flight  seats 
were  provided  as  resting  places.  In  the  topmost  tower  there 
was  a  magnificent  chamber  sacred  to  Belus.  This  chamber 
was  furnished  with  a  splendid  couch,  near  which  was  a  table 
of  gold.  There  was  no  statue  there  when  Herodotus  visited 
Babylon,  whence  some  have  concluded  that  the  Assyrians 
imagined  the  deity  frequented  his  temple  when  he  pleased. 
Diodorus,  however,  states,  that  there  was  originally  a  statue 
of  Belus,  forty  feet  high,  erected  on  its  summit ;  and  Hero- 
dotus himself  was  informed  by  the  Chaldeans,  that  there 
formerly  stood  in  the  temple  of  Belus,  a  statue  of  solid  gold, 
twelve  cubits  high,  which  was  spared  by  Darius  Hystaspes, 
but  afterwards  was  taken  away  by  Xerxes,  who  slew  the  priest 
that  forbade  its  removal.  But  this  latter  statue  is  supposed  by 
Dr.  Hales  to  be  the  "  golden  image,"  made  by  Nebuchadnez- 
zar, in  all  the  pride  of  conquest,  which  he  set  up  as  an  object 
of  idolatrous  worship  to  his  subjects,  as  recorded  by  the  pro- 
phet Daniel.  See  Dan.  iii.  1.  It  was  evidently,  he  says, 
distinct  from  the  statue  of  Jupiter  Belus,  noticed  by  Diodorus, 
and  was  designed  to  represent  Nebuchadnezzar  himself,  or 
the  genius  of  his  empire,  according  to  Jerome,  supported  by 
Daniel : — "  Thou  art  this  head  of  gold,"  Dan.  ii.  38. 

The  riches  of  the  temple  of  Belus,  in  statues,  tables,  cen- 
sers, cups,  and  other  sacred  vessels,  were  immense.  All  were 
of  massy  gold.  According  to  Diodorus,  the  sum  total  amounted 
to  6,300  Babylonish  talents  of  gold,  or  rather  more  than  21, 
000,000/.  sterling. 

About  two  centuries  after  the  devastations  conmiitted  by 
Xerxes,  Alexander,  among  other  projects,  conceived  an  idea 
of  restoring  this  celebrated  tower  to  its  pristine  splendour. 
As  a  preparatory  step  to  this  undertaking,  he  employed  10,000 
men  to  remove  the  rubbish  which  had  fallen  from  the  dilapi- 
dated structure  ;  but,  after  they  had  laboured  therein  two 
months,  Alexander  died,  and  the  work  ceased.  From  this  it 
may  be  inferred  by  the  reader,  that  but  faint  traces  of  the  ori- 
ginal structure  can  remain  at  the  present  day.  Such  is  the 
case  ;  and  hence  it  is  that  some  identify  it  with  the  Mujelibe, 
about  950  yards  east  of  the  Euphrates,  and  five  miles  above 
the  modern  tower  of  Hillah ;  others  with  the  Birs  Nemrud, 
to  the  west  of  that  river,  and  about  six  miles  to  the  south- 
west of  Hillah;  and  others  with  Nimrod's  tower  at  Ak- 
kerkoof. 


mSTORY  OF   THE   ASSYRIANS  AND   CHALDEANS.  39 


THE    MUJELIBE. 

The  Mujelibe  was  first  supposed  by  Pietro  Delia  Velle  to 
he  the  Tower  of  Belus,  This  traveller  examined  its  rums 
A.D.  1616)  and  he  characterizes  the  mass  as  "a  mountain  of 
ruins,"  and  again,  as  a  "  huge  mountain."  He  is  supported 
in  his  opinion  by  D'Anville,  Rennell,  and  other  high  names; 
but  none  of  them,  except  Kenneir,  possessed  any  distinct  in- 
formation concerning  the  Birs  Nemroud. 

The  Mujelibe,  or  "  overturned,"  is  one  of  the  most  enorm- 
ous masses  of  brick-formed  earth,  raised  by  the  art  and  labour 
of  man.  According  to  Rich,  the  mound  is  of  an  oblong 
shape,  irregular  in  its  height,  with  its  sides  facing  the  cardinal 
points.  The  measurement  of  the  northern  side  being  200 
yards  in  length  ;  the  southern  219  ;  the  eastern  182  ;  and  the 
western  136.  The  elevation  of  the  south-east,  or  highest  an- 
gle, he  says,  is  141  feet.  The  western  face  of  the  building 
is  most  interesting,  on  account  of  the  appearance  which  it 
presents.  It  is  a  straight  wall,  that  seems  to  have  cased  and 
parapeted  this  side  of  the  magnificent  pile.  The  south-west 
angle  is  rounded  off';  but  whether  it  was  so  formed,  or  it  has 
been  thus  worn  by  the  hand  of  time,  cannot  be  stated.  On 
the  summit,  it  is  crowned  with  something  like  a  turret^  or  lan- 
tern. The  other  angles  are  not  so  perfect,  but  it  is  probable, 
they  were  originally  thus  ornamented.  The  western  face  is 
the  easiest,  and  the  northern  the  most  diflicuk  of  access. 
Every  portion  of  this  mighty  structure,  though  erected  as  if 
it  would  resist  the  utmost  shock  of  time,  has  been  torn  by  the 
rains,  which  here  fell  in  torrents,  with  the  force  and  body  of 
water-spouts,  in  a  terrific  manner.  The  eastern  face,  parti- 
cularly, is  worn  into  a  deep  channel,  from  the  summit  to  the 
base.  The  summit  is  covered  with  heaps  of  rubbish ;  in 
digging  into  which,  layers  of  broken  burned  brick,  cemented 
with  mortar,  are  discovered,  and  whole  bricks,  with  antique 
inscriptions  on  them,  are  not  unfrequently  found.  The  whole 
is  covered  with  fragments  of  pottery,  brick,  bitumen,  pebbles, 
vitrified  scoriae,  and  even  shells,  bits  of  glass,  and  mother  of 
pearl.  Dens  of  wild  beasts  (in  one  of  which  Rich  found  the 
bones  of  sheep  and  other  animals)  are  very  numerous  among 
this  ruin  ;  and  in  most  of  the  ravines  are  numbers  of  bats 
and  owls.  Yes,  these  mighty  buildings,  which  were  once, 
perhaps,  the  chambers  of  royalty,  are  now  the  haunts  of 
jackals,  and  other  ferocious  animals ;  reminding  us  of  the 
awful  prediction  of  the  prophet : — 


40         History  of  the  assyriaks  and  chaldeans. 

"  Wild  beasts  of  the  desert  shall  lie  there ; 
And  their  houses  shall  be  full  of  doleful  creatures ; 
And  owls  shall  dwell  there, 
And  satyrs  shall  dance  there, 

And  the  wild  beasts  of  the  islands  shall  cry  in  their  desolate  houses, 
And  dragons  in  their  pleasant  palaces."— /sa.  xiii.  21,  22. 

It  may  be  mentioned  that  the  Hebrew  word  Sheirim,  ren- 
dered "  satyr"  here,  is  translated  by  Dr.  Henderson  "  wild 
goats,"  and  it  literally  signifies  "  hairy  ones  ;"  a  signification 
still  preserved  in  the  Vulgate.  In  Gen.  xxvii.  11,23;  in 
Lev.  iv.  24,  xvi.  9,  it  is  applied  to  the  goat ;  and  in  Lev.  xvii. 
7.  2  Chron.  xi.  15,  to  objects  of  idolatrous  worship,  perhaps 
in  the  form  of  goats,  and  translated  "  devils."  It  is  probable, 
that  in  the  verse  quoted,  and  in  Isa.  xxxiv.  14,  some  kind  of 
wild  goat  is  intended  ;  but  it  may  be  interesting  to  observe, 
that  Rich,  who  explored  these  masses  a.  d.  1812,  heard  the 
oriental  account  of  satyrs  while  thus  employed.  He  had 
always  imagined  the  belief  of  the  existence  of  such  creatures 
to  be  confined  to  the  mythology  of  the  west,  but  a  Tahohadar 
who  accompanied  him  accidentally  mentioned  that,  in  this 
desert,  there  is  an  animal  resembling  a  man  from  the  head 
to  the  waist,  and  having  the  thighs  and  the  legs  of  a  goat  and 
a  sheep.  He  also  informed  him  that  the  Arabs  hunt  it  with 
dogs,  and  eat  the  lower  parts,  abstaining  from  the  upper,  on 
account  of  their  resemblance  to  the  human  species  The 
belief  of  the  existence  of  such  creatures,  however  ideal,  is  by 
no  means  rare  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Babylonian  wilds. 

BIRS   NEMROTJD. 

It  has  been  observed,  that  every  one  who  sees  the  Birs 
Nemroud  feels  at  once,  that  of  all  the  masses  of  ruin  found 
in  this  region,  there  is  not  one  which  so  nearly  corresponds 
with  his  previous  notions  of  the  Tower  of  Babel ;  and  he 
will  decide  that  it  could  be  no  other,  if  he  is  not  discouraged 
by  the  apparent  difficuhy  of  reconciling  the  statements  of  the 
ancient  writers  concerning  the  Temple  of  Belus  with  the 
situation  of  this  ruin  on  the  western  bank,  and  its  distance 
from  the  river  and  the  other  ruins.  This  difficulty  is  not  in- 
superable ;  but  without  identifying  the  Birs  Nemroud  with 
the  Temple  of  Belus,  we  prefer  giving  the  reader  a  descrip- 
tion of  it,  leaving  him  to  draw  his  own  conclusions. 

This  sublime  ruin  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  solitary  waste, 
like  the  awful  figure  of  Prophecy  herself,  pointing  to  the 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  41 

complete  fulfilment  of  her  thrilling  denunciations.  Just,  says 
Rich,  as  we  were  within  the  proper  distance,  so  necessary  to 
the  production  of  grandeur  of  view,  the  Birs  at  once  burst 
upon  our  view  in  the  midst  of  rolling  masses  of  black  thick 
clouds,  partially  obscured  by  that  kind  of  haze,  whose  indis- 
tinctness is  one  great  cause  of  sublimity  ;  while  a  few  catches 
of  stormy  light,  thrown  on  the  desert,  in  the  back  ground, 
served  to  give  some  idea  of  the  immense  extent  and  dreary 
solitude  of  the  waste  surrounding  the  venerable  pile. 

The  Birs  Nemroud  is  a  mound  of  an  oblong  form,  the  total 
circumference  of  which  is  762  yards.  At  the  eastern  side, 
it  is  cloven  by  a  deep  furrow,  and  is  not  more  than  fifty  or 
sixty  feet  high ;  but  on  the  western  side,  it  rises  in  a  conical 
figure,  to  the  elevation  of  198  feet;  and  on  its  summit  is  a 
solid  pile  of  brick,  thirty-seven  feet  high  by  twenty-eight  in 
breadth,  diminishing  in  thickness  to  the  top,  which  is  broken 
and  irregular,  and  rent  by  a  large  fissure,  extending  through 
a  third  of  its  height.  It  is  perforated  by  small  square  holes, 
disposed  in  rhomboids.  The  fire-burned  bricks  of  which  it 
is  buik  have  inscriptions  on  them,  and  so  excellent  is  the  ce- 
ment, which  appears  to  be  lime-mortar,  that  it  is  nearly  im- 
possible to  extract  one  whole.  The  other  parts  of  the  sum- 
mit of  this  hill  are  occupied  by  immense  fragments  of  brick- 
work, of  no  determinate  figure,  tumbled  together  and  con- 
verted into  solid  vitrified  masses,  as  if  they  had  undergone 
the  action  of  the  fiercest  fire,  or  had  been  blown  up  with 
gunpowder,  the  layers  of  brick  being  perfectly  discernable. 
The  ruins  stand  on  a  prodigious  mound,  the  whole  of  which 
is  itself  in  ruins,  channelled  by  the  weather,  and  strewed  with 
fragments  of  blackstone,  sandstone,  and  marble.  In  the  east- 
ern part,  layers  of  unburned  brick,  but  no  reeds  are  discern- 
ible. In  the  north  side,  may  be  seen  traces  of  building,  ex- 
actly similar  to  the  brick  pile.  At  the  foot  of  the  mound  a 
step  may  be  traced,  scarcely  elevated  above  the  plain,  exceed- 
ing in  extent,  by  several  feet  each  way,  the  true,  or  measured 
base  ;  and  there  is  a  quadrangular  enclosure  around  the 
whole,  as  at  the  Mujelibe,  but  more  distinct,  and  of  greater 
dimensions. 

This  stupendous  structure  is  believed,  both  by  Rich  and 
Ker  Porter,  to  be  the  remains  of  the  celebrated  Temple  and 
Tower  of  Belus,  completed,  if  not  commenced  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar. Porter  seems  to  show  that  three,  and  part  of  the 
fourth  original  stages  of  the  tower,  as  described  by  Diodorus, 
may  be  traced  in  the  existing  ruins  of  Birs  Nemroud  ;  and 

4* 


42  HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYHIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

with  regard  to  the  intense  vitrifying  heat,  to  which  the  sum- 
mit has  evidently  been  subjected,  he  says,  that  he  has  no  doubt 
that  the  fire  acted  from  above,  and  was  probably  lightning. 
This  circumstance  is  assuredly  most  remarkable,  in  connexion 
with  the  tradition  of  the  Arabs,  that  the  original  Tower  of 
Babel  was  rent  and  overthrown  by  fire  from  heaven.  The 
same  author  conceives  that  the  works  of  the  Babylonish 
kings  concealed,  for  a  season,  the  marks  of  the  original  de- 
vastation, and  that  now,  the  destruction  of  time  and  man  have 
reduced  it  to  nearly  the  same  condition  in  which  it  appeared 
after  the  confusion.  As  it  exists,  it  reminds  the  beholder  of 
the  emphatic  words  of  the  prophet : — 

"  Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  O  destroying  mountain,  saith  the  Lord, 
Which  destroyest  all  the  earth : 
And  I  will  stretch  out  mine  hand  upon  thee, 
And  roll  thee  down  from  the  rocks. 
And  will  make  thee  a  burnt  mountain. 
And  they  shall  not  take  of  thee  a  stone  for  a  corner, 
Nor  a  stone  for  foundations ; 
But  thou  shall  be  desolate  for  ever,  saith  the  Lord."— Jer.  li.  25,  26. 

Scarcely  half  this  elevation  now  stands.  In  the  piece  of 
brick  wall,  now  surmounting  the  pile,  270  feet  from  the  east- 
ern face  of  the  Birs,  is  a  great  mound,  equal  to  the  Kasr  in 
elevation,  and  1,242  feet  broad  by  1,935  feet  in  length.  The 
whole  of  its  summit  and  sides  are  furrowed  into  hollows  and 
traversing  channels,  the  effect  of  time,  violence,  and  accident, 
and  all  are  imbedded  with  fragments  of  the  same  nature  as 
the-other  mounds.  It  is  supposed  that  this  mound  contained 
the  minor  temples  of  the  attendant  gods  of  the  chief  divinity, 
and  also  the  abodes  of  the  priesthood,  with  their  attendants. 

Within  the  quadrangle  of  two  miles  and  a  half,  stood  the 
mound  and  the  temple  itself,  with  a  large  open  are  expanding 
on  all  sides  ;  but  on  the  north  side,  from  the  top  of  the  mound, 
at  the  distance  of  400  feet,  mounds  of  various  elevation  are 
descried.  Clustering  ranges  appear  to  continue  curving 
round  to  the  west,  where  a  vacuum  occurs,  after  which  they 
recommence  running  eastward.  Other  chains,  of  apparently 
greater  magnitude,  rise  to  the  west,  at  200  yards  from  the 
Birs,  and  these  are  connected  with  others  to  the  north  and 
south  ;  so  that  the  whole  quadrangle  seems  to  have  been 
filled  with  variously  erected  structures.  These  were  doubt- 
less erected  for  the  protection  of  the  various  animals  worship- 
ped according  to  the  Sabian  ritual,  the  officers  in  attendance, 
and  the  many  occasional  residents  of  the  place ;  for  the  in- 


mSTORY    OP   THE   ASSYRIANS    AND    CHALDEANS.  43 

habitants  regarded  the  Birs  Nemroud  as  a  temple,  a  college,  a 
royal  sanctuary,  and  even  a  fortress,  in  the  days  of  extremity. 

nimrod's  tower. 

This  pyramidal  mass,  which  many  travellers  have  taken 
for  the  ruined  Tower  of  Babel,  stands  about  ten  miles  to  the 
north-west  of  Bagdad.  By  the  Arabs,  who  refer  every  thing 
ancient  to  Nimrod,  it  is  denominated  Tel  Nemroud ;  and  by 
the  Turks,  Nemroud  Tepasse:  which  appellations  some 
translate  "  The  Tower  of  Nimrod,"  but  which  signifies  "  The 
hill."  The  term  Akkerkoof,  given  it  by  the  Arabs,  is  m- 
tended  to  signify  the  ground  around  it;  and  the  word  havmg 
no  distinct  meaning,  it  is  supposed  by  some  that  it  was  proba- 
bly the  name  of  some  ancient  city  of  the  Babylonians,  now 
buried  in  the  dust.  Thus  Rennell  thinks  it  to  be  the  ancient 
Agrani ;  D'Anville,  the  ancient  Sitace  ;  and  Ker  Porter,  the 
city  of  Accad,  mentioned  Gen.  x.  10,  as  one  of  the  principal 
cities  of  Nimrod's  kingdom. 

The  ruined  mass  of  the  Tower  of  Nimrod  rises  1 80  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  plain,  and  126  feet  above  the  mound  whereon 
it  is  erected.  Its  circumference  at  the  base  of  the  upper  struc- 
ture is  300  feet,  and  900  feet  within  ten  feet  of  the  base  on 
the  mound.  The  whole  mass  is  computed  at  300,000  cubical 
feet.  It  is  composed  of  the  same  materials  as  the  structures 
before  described,  and  seems  to  be  solid,  except  certain  square 
perforations,  resembling  those  of  the  turret  of  the  Birs  Nem- 
roud. Like  that  of  the  Birs,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
this  pile,  as  well  as  the  lofty  conical  mounds  of  Al  Hymer, 
were  the  temples  and  mansions  of  the  Sabian  priesthood,  and 
dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the  host  of  heaven.  A  number 
of  relics  of  Babylonish  idolatry  have  been  dug  out  of  the 
ruins  of  the  Kasr,  and  the  hill  of  Amzam;  and  it  is  probable 
many  more  might  be  discovered  on  a  close  investigation. 

CITY   OF   BABYLON. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  famous  metropolis  of  the 
Assyrian  empire  was  erected  upon  the  site  of  that  first  post- 
diluvian city  of  which  there  is  any  record,  and  which  was 
built  by  Nimrod,  Babel.  See  Gen.  x.  10.  The  town  founded 
by  Nimrod  could  have  been  but  of  little  importance ;  but  its 
greatness,  aftei  it  had  been  enlarged  and  improved  by  Belus, 
Semiramis,  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  his  queen,  whom  Herodo- 


44  HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

tus  calls  Nitocris,  is  shown  by  the  writings  of  ancient  histo- 
rians, and  the  ruins  now  found  on  the  site.  Herodotus,  with 
whom  Pliny  and  Solinus  agree,  says  that  Babylon  was  a  per- 
fect square,  each  side  of  which  was  about  twelve  miles,  and 
its  circuit  forty-eight,  and  that  it  was  so  magnificent,  that  no 
city  could  be  compared  with  it.  The  walls  were  about  350 
feet  high,  and  eighty  wide,  and  it  was  encompassed  with  a 
Avide  ditch,  deep,  and  full  of  water.  On  the  top  were  erected 
small  watch  towers,  of  one  story  high,  leaving  a  space  be- 
tween them  through  which  a  chariot  and  four  horses  might 
pass  and  turn.  In  the  circumference  of  the  wall,  at  stated 
intervals,  were  a  hundred  massy  gates  of  brass,  whose  hinges 
and  frames  were  of  the  same  metal.  The  Euphrates  ran 
through  the  city,  and  divided  it  into  two  parts.  Each  wall 
formed  an  elbow,  or  angle  on  the  river,  at  which  point  a  wall 
of  baked  brick  commenced,  and  the  two  sides  of  the  river 
were  lined  with  similar  walls.  The  houses  were  built  of 
three  and  four  stories.  The  streets  were  straight,  and  inter- 
sected by  others,  which  opened  at  the  side  of  the  river.  Op- 
posite the  end  of  the  streets,  small  gates  of  brass  were  formed 
in  the  walls  which  lined  the  river  ;  and  there  were  as  many 
gates  as  there  were  transverse  streets.  The  external  wall 
served  for  defence,  and  there  was  also  an  internal  wall,  nar- 
rower, but  still  very  strong. 

A  bridge  was  built  by  Nitocris,  queen  of  Babylon,  to  con- 
nect the  two  parts  of  the  city  divided  by  the  Euphrates.  The 
piers  of  this  bridge  were  formed  of  large  hewn  stones,  and  in 
order  to  fix  them  in  the  river,  the  waters  of  the  Euphrates 
were  turned,  leaving  the  bed  of  the  river  dry.  It  was  at  this 
time  that  the  banks  of  the  river  were  lined  with  the  walls, 
and  the  descents  to  the  river  from  the  smaller  gates  were 
made.  The  bridge  was  built  about  the  middle  of  the  city, 
and  the  masonry  connected  with  iron  and  lead.  During  the 
day,  pieces  of  squared  wood  were  laid  from  pier  to  pier, 
which  were  removed  at  night,  lest  the  inhabitants  on  each 
side  should  rob  one  another.  When  the  whole  was  com- 
pleted, the  waters  of  the  Euphrates  were  turned  back  into 
their  ancient  course. 

Among  the  curiosities  of  Babylon,  the  most  celebrated 
were,  the  temple  and  tower  of  Bel  us,  which  ran  through  the 
centre  of  the  city,  from  north  to  south  ;  the  palace  of  Nebuch- 
adnezzar, which  formed  the  citadel ;  and  the  spacious  hang- 
ing gardens,  contiguous  to  the  royal  palace,  which  were  built 
by  Nebuchadnezzar,  to  gratify  his  wife,  who  was  a  native  of 


HISTORY  OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  45 

Media,  a  mountamous  country,  with  the  resemblance  of  her 
own,  in  the  level  country  of  Babylon. 

The  magnificence  of  this  renowned  city,  after  its  enlarge- 
ment and  improvement  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  when  it  became 
one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world,  is  strongly  expressed  by  the 
arrogant  boast  of  that  haughty  monarch :  "  Is  not  this  great 
Babylon,  that  1  have  built  for  the  house  of  the  kingdom  by 
the  might  of  my  power,  and  for  the  honour  of  my  majesty  ?" 
Dan.  iv.  30.  But  where  now  is  all  its  greatness  ?  Reader, 
while  in  the  plenitude  of  its  power,  and,  according  to  the 
most  accurate  chronologers,  one  hundred  and  sixty  years  be- 
fore the  foot  of  an  enemy  entered  its  gates,  the  voice  of  pro- 
phecy pronounced  its  doom,  and  a  succession  of  ages  has 
brought  it  gradually  to  the  dust. 

"  The  kings  thy  sword  had  slain,  the  mighty  dead, 
Start  from  their  thrones,  at  thy  descending  tread  ; 
They  ask  in  scorn.  Destroyer,  is  it  thus  1 
Art  thou — thou  too  ! — become  Hke  one  of  us  1 
Turn  from  the  feast  of  music,  wine,  and  mirth, 
The  worm  thy  covering,  and  thy  couch  the  earth  1 
How  art  thou  fall'n  from  thine  ethereal  height, 
Son  of  the  morning,  sunk  in  endless  night ! 
How  art  thou  fall'n,  who  saidst  in  pride  of  soul, 
I  will  ascend  above  the  starry  pole, 
Thence  rule  the  adoring  nations  with  my  rod. 
And  set  my  throne  above  the  mount  of  God. 
Spilt  in  the  dust,  thy  blood  pollutes  the  ground  ; 
Sought  by  the  eyes  that  feared  thee,  yet  not  found. 
Thy  chieftains  pause,  they  turn  thy  relics  o'er, 
Then  pass  thee  by,  for  thou  art  now  no  more." — Montgomery. 

It  is  a  common  opinion,  that  the  destruction  of  Babylon  has 
been  so  complete,  that  its  site  cannot  now  be  discovered,  not 
even  by  the  investigation  of  the  most  scientific  geographers, 
and  learned  antiquarians.  This  opinion  is  founded  upon  the 
declaration  of  the  prophet,  that  the  Almighty  would  "  cut  off 
from  Babylon  the  name  and  remnant,"  and  that  he  would 
perform  this  by  making  it  "  pools  of  water,"  Isa.  xiv.  22,  23, 
This  prediction,  however,  does  not  mean  that  every  vestige 
of  Babylon  should  be  annihilated,  but,  that  it  should  cease  to 
exist  as  a  city  so  called  ;  and  that  every  remnant  of  it,  as  an 
inhabited  city,  should  be  cut  off,  that  no  human  being  should 
make  it  his  abode.  Nor  does  it  mean  that  the  whole  space 
including  the  city,  should  become  a  pool  of  water,  for  if  it  did, 
that  very  circumstance  would  point  out  to  the  traveller  its  an- 
cient site.  That  such  was  never  intended,  is  distinctly  de- 
monstrated by  the  present  aspect  of  the  remains,  pointed  out 


46  mSTOPcY   OF   THE    ASSYUIANS   AND   CHALDEANS. 

as  those  of  Babylon,  which  answers  in  a  remarkable  manner 
to  the  recorded  predictions  of  Holy  Writ.  These  predictions 
will  be  noticed,  after  describing  briefly  the  site  and  the  ruins 
of  that  once  "  golden  city." 

The  best  authorities  place  Babylon  near  Hillah,  a  town 
situated  on  the  Euphrates,  which  was  erected  out  of  the  ruins 
in  its  vicinity,  a.  d.  1101,  and  which  is  about  forty-eight  miles 
south  of  Bagdad.  This  opinion  is  founded  on,  1.  The 
latitude  of  the  place,  as  given  by  the  best  oriental  geographers, 
compared  with  the  situation  of  Babylon,  as  recorded  by  clas- 
sical writers  ;  2.  The  stupendous  magnitude  and  extent  of  the 
adjacent  ruins  ;  3.  Its  vicinity  to  the  bituminous  fountains  of 
Hit,  mentioned  by  Herodotus,  as  being  eight  days'  journey 
above  Babylon,  upon  a  stream  of  the  same  name,  which  falls 
into  the  Euphrates ;  and,  4.  From  the  circumstance  that  the 
whole  surrounding  district  has  been  distinguished  by  the 
name  of  Babel,  from  the  remotest  ages  to  the  present  hour. 
The  author  of  "  Critical  Geography,"  after  ably  analyzing 
the  opinions  of  ancient  and  modern  geographers,  concludes 
by  saying,  that,  taking  all  these  authorities  together,  the  site 
of  old  Babylon  is  clearly  pointed  out  to  be  at,  or  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Hillah  ;  and  he  thus  determines  its  geographical  posi- 
tion : — 

As  the  longitude  of  Bagdad  is,  accordhig  to  Rich,  44°  45' 
45"  E.  of  Greenwich,  and  n.  latitude  33°  19'  40";  and  as  the 
longitude  of  Hillah,  by  the  same  authority,  is  44°  33'  9",  or 
12°  36'  of  Bagdad,  and  its  latitude  32°  31'  18"  n.,  or  38 
geographical  miles  s.  of  the  parallel  of  Bagdad,  and  its  gene- 
ral bearing  from  that  place  is  s.  13°  w.,  and  the  road  distant 
50  geographical,  or  rather  more  than  57^  English  miles  ;  we 
may  fix  the  southern  limit  of  the  ruins  indicating  its  site,  in 
32°  43'  N.  latitude,  and  e.  longitude  44°  32'  e.  of  Greenwich, 
two  miles  w.  of  Hillah. 

It  is  not  possible  to  determine  precisely  the  extent  and  cir- 
cumference of  ancient  Babylon,  so  as  to  decide  which  of  the 
various  statements  of  Herodotus,  Pliny,  Strabo,  Solinus,  Cte- 
sias,  Diodorus,  Clitarchus,  and  Curtius,  are  correct.  The 
broad  walls  of  Babylon  are  broken  down,  and  neither  wall 
nor  ditch  exists  within  the  area  to  point  out  where  they  stood. 
Untraceable,  however,  as  the  walls  now  are,  some  traces  of 
the  ancient  city  commence  at  two  canals,  rising  east  and  west, 
immediately  to  the  south  of  the  village  of  Mahowil,  and  a  lit- 
tle east  of  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Euphrates.  One  of  these 
canals  is  crossed  by  a  brick  bridge,  and  as  soon  as  the  travel- 


HISTORY   OF    THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  47 

ler  has  gained  the  opposite  side,  the  vestiges  of  the  fallen  city- 
present  themselves  to  his  view  in  awful  grandeur.  For  the 
distance  of  twelve  miles  along  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates, 
his  eye  wanders  over  mounds  of  temples,  palaces,  and  human 
habitations  of  every  kind,  now  buried  in  shapeless  heaps  ;  and 
he  travels  onward  amidst  a  silence,  profound  as  that  which 
presides  over  the  abodes  of  the  dead. 

The  first  object  surveyed,  after  crossing  the  bridge,  is  a 
mound  of  considerable  elevation,  about  five  hundred  yardt 
from  the  second  canal.  The  sloping  sides  of  this  mound  are 
covered  with  broken  bricks  and  other  fragments  of  buildings, 
while  the  ground  around  its  base  presents  a  nitrous  surface. 
A  few  hundred  yards  in  the  advance,  is  another  mound  of 
still  greater  elevation,  from  which  other  elevations  project  in 
several  directions.  Two  miles  from  the  bridge  are  the  re- 
mains of  a  larger  and  higher  embankment  than  that  of  a  sim- 
ple watercourse,  and  which  seems  to  be  the  remnant  of  some 
interior  boundary.  The  road  from  this  embankment,  for  the 
space  of  four  miles,  though  somewhat  even,  is  nevertheless 
broken  by  several  mounds,  detached  portions  of  canal  em- 
bankments, and  ether  indications  of  a  place  in  ruin.  These  are 
mingled  with  large  marshy  hollows  in  the  ground,  and  large 
nitrous  spots,  which  arise  from  the  deposits  of  accumulated 
rubbish.  At  the  end  of  this  tract  of  four  miles,  a  spacious 
canal  is  encountered,  beyond  which,  eastward,  is  a  vast  unin- 
terrupted flat.  At  the  distance  of  half  an  hour's  ride  from 
this  canal,  the  eastern  face  of  the  Mujelibe  is  described.  Af- 
ter a  further  ride  of  an  hour  and  a  quarter  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, the^uphrates  appears  in  sight ;  the  view  of  its  north- 
eastern flSnk  being  hitherto  totally  excluded  by  the  long 
intervening  lines  of  ruin,  which  in  the  ear  of  reason  reiterates 
the  words  of  the  prophet : — 

"  Babylon  is  fallen,  is  fallen." — Isa.  xxi,  9. 

From  this  point  to  the  base  of  the  Mujelibe,  large  masses 
of  ancient  foundations  spread  on  the  right,  more  resembling 
natural  hills  than  mounds,  and  concealing  the  ruins  of  splen- 
did edifices.  Amid  these  ruins,  the  majestic  Euphrates  flows 
in  peaceful  solitude  ;  and  although  the  glory  of  that  river  is 
also  departed,  it  is  still  a  noble  feature  of  the  waste  scenery. 

The  ruins  which  claim  most  attention  are  comprised  within 
an  area  of  rather  more  than  two  miles,  from  east  to  west,  and 
about  the  same  distance  from  south  to  north.  This  space  is 
bounded  by  the  river  along  its  western  limits,  and  contains 


48  HISTOEY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS. 

a  great  number  of  small  mounds,  and  three  immense  masses 
of  ruins,  denominated  the  Amram  Hills,  the  Kasr,  or  palace, 
and  the  Mujelibe.  This  latter  mound  is  five  miles  north  of 
Hillah.  To  the  north-west  of  this  mound  commences  a  mag- 
nificent rampart,  which,  running  along  its  northern  and 
eastern  sides,  takes  its  course  southward,  till  intersected  by 
the  Nil  canal.  At  this  point  it  makes  a  curve,  stretching 
away  direct  for  rather  more  than  two  miles,  at  the  end  of 
which  is  an  opening  of  three  hundred  feet,  which  is  supposed 
to  have  been  once  intended  for  a  majestic  gateway.  The 
rampart  recommences  on  the  southern  side  of  this  opening, 
and  runs  in  an  answering  and  expanding  direction  south- 
west, for  a  mile  and  a  half,  where  it  unites  with  a  clu^tre  of 
low  mounds,  connected  with  the  great  mass  of  ruins  south 
of  the  hill  of  Amram.  The  whole  of  this  rampart  is  broad 
and  elevated,  and  along  its  summits  and  slopes  are  traces  of 
ancient  buildings ;  but  no  moat  has  been  discovered.  This 
space  has  been  compared  to  a  drawn  bow  from  whence  the 
arrow  has  just  been  discharged  ;  the  river  forming  the  bow, 
and  the  two  lines  of  the  rampart  the  string.  It  is  intersected 
by  another  ridge  of  mounds,  commencing  seven  hundred 
yards  south  of  the  Nil  canal,  and  running  direct  across  the 
area  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  rampart. 

A  little  to  the  west  of  this,  another  mound  commences, 
which  appears  rather  low  till  an  opening  occurs,  when  it  is 
seen  again  rising  in  high  elevations,  covered  with  the  wreck 
of  ancient  buildings.  At  the  north  end  of  this  ridge  of  mound 
another  commences,  striking  ofT  nearly  at  an  angle  from  that 
point,  and  running  direct  west  to  the  river,  whe||  it  termi- 
nates in  an  elevated  mass  ;  the  shore  being  ther^ixtremely 
steep  and  high,  forming  an  admirable  defence  against  the 
river,  and  the  sudden  invasion  of  an  enemy.  This  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  river  embankment  built  by  Nebuchadnezzar, 
who  fortified  it  with  brick  and  bitumen  fortifications,  and 
over  against  every  street  leading  to  its  banks  placed  a  brazen 
gate,  with  stairs  leading  down  to  the  w^ter.  Diodorus  and 
Ctesias  say,  that  these  embankments  were  formed  of  sun-dried 
bricks  in  courses  ;  and  such  may  yet  be  found  in  regular 
layers  along  the  steep  shore,  from  north  to  south,  and  huge 
fragments  of  the  exterior  walls  are  discerned  both  on  the 
margin  of  and  beneath  the  stream.  From  this  point,  the  river 
bulwark  runs  north-west  to  the  mouth  of  the  Nil  canal ;  and 
from  the  same  point  it  runs  south  along  the  bending  course 
of  the  river  for  three  quarters  of  a  mile,  till  it  arrives  at  a 


HISTORY   or   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  49 

point  where  the  river  has  changed  its  channel  westward. 
Beyond  this  deviation,  the  bulwark  commences  in  a  rapid 
ascent  of  forty-five  (eet,  following  the  course  of  the  stream  for 
about  700  yards,  till  it  is  lost  in  the  dense  woods  of  bushes 
and  date  trees  leading  to  Hillah,  Thus  this  famous  embank- 
ment has  been  distinctly  traced  for  the  space  of  2,000  yards, 
along  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Euphrates, 

On  the  north  of  Hillah,  the  first  ruin  that  meets  the  eye  of 
the  traveller  is  a  mound  called  Jumjuma,  an  epithet  which, 
like  Golgotha  and  Calvary,  signifies,  "  the  place  of  a  skull." 
South  of  this  is  the  Amram  hill,  which  is  1,100  yards  in 
length,  and  800  in  breadth,  and  the  figure  of  which  nearly 
resembles  that  of  a  quadrant.  The  elevation  of  this  mound 
is  somewhat  irregular,  but  at  intervals  it  rises  to  seventy  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  plain.  It  is  broken  by  deep  ravines 
and  long  winding  furrows,  and  the  whole  appears  one  vast 
elevated  mass  of  earth,  mixed  with  fragments  of  brick,  pottery, 
vitrifications,  mortar,  and  bitumen.  At  the  foot  of  the  nar- 
rowest and  most  elevated  part  of  the  embankment,  a  number 
of  urns  are  cemented  into  the  burned  brick  of  the  wall,  which 
are  filled  with  ashes,  intenningled  with  small  fragments  of 
human  bones. 

A  little  to  the  north  of  the  Amram  hill  is  the  Kasr,  or  Pa- 
lace, an  august  ruin,  rising  full  seventy  feet  above  the  general 
level.  The  whole  of  this  mass  is  furrowed  into  deep  ravines, 
intersecting  each  other  in  every  direction,  and  as  the  traveller 
passes  over  it,  his  feet  sink  into  dust  and  rubbish.  Every  ves- 
tige discovered  in  it  shows  it  to  have  been  composed  of  build- 
ings superior  to  ail  the  rest  in  this  section  of  the  ruins,  but  the 
excavations  which  are  constantly  going  forward  there  to  ob- 
tain bricl^,  make  it  difficult  to  decipher  the  original  designs 
of  the  mound.  In  some  places,  the  workmen  have  bored  into 
the  solid  mass,  discovering  on  every  hand  walls  of  burned 
brick  laid  in  lime  m.ortar,  fragments  of  alabaster  vessels,  fine 
earthenware,  marble,  and  varnished  tiles.  Rich  discovered 
a  colossal  lion,  standing  on  a  pedestal  of  coarse  granite  of  a 
grey  colour,  and  of  rude  workmanship.  This  was  on  the 
north  side  of  the  mound  ;  and  immediately  west  of  it  are  the 
ruins  peculiarly  denominated  the  Kasr,  or  Palace. 

There  is  one  remarkable  difference  between  the  material 
of  the  Kasr,  and  that  of  the  Mujelibe  and  the  Birs  Nemroud. 
The  latter  piles  are  vast  internal  courses  of  sun-dried  bricks, 
consohdated  by  the  intervention  of  reeds  and  slime ;  but  the 
Kasr  is  formed  of  furnace-burned  brick,  with  its  necessary 

voL«  n.  5 


50  HISTORY   OF    THE   ^S<?k\  RTATs'S   AND    CHALDJEANS. 

cements.  Every  brick  has  been  found,  on  examination,  to  be 
placed  with  its  fiice  downward  ;  and  where  bitumen  has  been 
used,  the  bricks  of  each  course  were  covered  with  a  layer  of 
bitumen,  spread  over  with  reeds,  or  laid  in  regular  matting- ; 
and  on  this  preparation  the  faces  of  the  succeeding  courses 
were  imbedded.  This  agrees  with  the  account  of  Herodotus, 
who  states  that  the  bricks  for  the  walls  were  made  of  the  clay 
dug  from  the  moat  that  surrounded  them  ;  that  in  order  to  jom 
them  together,  warm  bitumen  -was  used,  and  that  between 
every  course  of  thirty  bricks,  beds  of  reeds  were  laid,  inter- 
woven together.  The  piles  of  the  walls,  still  standing,  are 
from  sixteen  to  eighteen  feet  above  the  general  line  of  their 
broken  summit,  and  their  thickness  is  from  eight  to  nine  feel. 
Their  materials  are  so  strongly  cemented  together,  that 
though  the  bricks  form  the  hardest  part  of  the  wall,  yet  they 
cannot  be  detached  from  the  mortar.  All  the  portions  of 
brick  remaining  in  this  vast  ruin,  present  traces  of  long  pas- 
sages of  square  chambers.  The  arch  never  appears,  which 
is  an  evidence  of  the  antiquity  of  the  masses.  From  this  in- 
deed, both  Rich  and  Ker  Porter  conclude,  that  the  Kasr  is 
part  of  the  ruins  of  the  terraced  palace  of  Nebuchadnezzar : 
and  as  this  is  stated  by  Herodotus  to  be  about  seven  arid  a  half 
miles  in  circumference,  the  latter  thinks  that  the  latge  ram- 
part described  w^as  the  outer  wall,  and  that  the  space  inchided 
within  the  rampart  answers  to  that  recorded  by  the  historian. 
One  circumstance,  which  appears  confirmatory  of  this  opinioHj 
is,  that  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Kasr,  among  the  moulder 
ing  fragments,  stands  the  solitary  tree  before  described,  called 
Athele  by  the  Arabs.  This  would  appear  to  be  a  solitary 
survivor,  or  rather  a  descendant,  of  those  that  adorned  the  ic 
renowned  hanging  gardens  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 

About  a  mile  to  the  north,  and  950  yards  east  of  the  river, 
is  the  famous  mound  called  the  Mujelibe.  On  the  west,  there 
are  no  ruins  at  all  correspondent  to  those  on  the  eastern  sid 
of  the  river.  There  are  a  few  small  mounds  enclosed  by 
mud  walls,  and  surrounded  by  cultivation,  but  there  is  no  np 
pearance  of  ruins.  But  though  no  ruins  exist  in  the  irnine 
diate  vicinity  of  the  western  bank,  yet  the  most  stupendous  cj 
all  the  remains  of  Babylon  exist  in' the  desert  about  six  miles 
south-west  of  Hillah,  and  nine  miles  south-east  of  the  Muje- 
libe. These  are  the  ruins  of  the  Birs  Nemroud,  before  des- 
cribed. 

To  the  north-west  of  the  village  of  Anana,  there  is  a  mound 
300  yards  long,  by  fourteen  feet  high  ;  and  two  miles  further, 


HISTORY   OF    THE   ASSYRIANS    AND    CHALDEANS.  51 

north  west,  is  a  numerous  assemblage  of  mounds,  the  most 
considerable  of  which  is  thirty-five  feet  high.  These  mounds 
extend  three  miles,  and  Kcr  Porter  conceives  that  they  are 
the  ruins  of  the  lesser  and  older  palaces  of  the  Babylonian 
monarchs.  A  mile  beyond  this,  the  plain  becomes  sterile, 
and  presents,  for  more  than  half  a  mile  in  breadth,  a  multitude 
of  minor  mounds.  About  three  miles  onward,  in  the  road  to 
the  Birs  Nemroud,  is  another  space  covered  with  remains  of 
buildings,  extending  nearly  two  miles,  thereby  establishing 
the  fact,  that  the  western  plain  of  the  Euphrates  sustained  its 
portion  of  the  city  of  Babylon. 

Such  are  the  remains  of  Babylon,  and  such  its  site,  as  iden- 
tified by  travellers  ;  and  hence  is  shown  that  the  vast  dimen- 
sions assigned  to  the  city  by  Herodotus  may  be  correct.  It 
must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  an  area  of  one  hundred 
and  forty-four  square  miles  was  inhabited.  As  stated  in  the 
former  chapter,  there  was  enclosed  within  the  wall  that  sur- 
rounded it,  a  large  space  of  ground  devoted  to  cultivation. 
It  was,  indeed,  a  walled  province  or  district,  containing  a 
number  of  detached  squares  or  villages,  with  open  areas  on 
every  hand,  and  within  them  circular  spaces  surrounded  with 
walls.  The  streets,  which  are  said  to  have  let  from  gate  to 
gate  across  the  area,  were  probably  only  roads  through  cul- 
tivated lands,  over  which  buildings  were  distributed  in  groups. 
Curtius  records  this  as  a  fact :  and  Xenophon  reports,  that 
when  Cyrus  took  the  city,  which  event  occurred  by  night, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  opposite  quarter  of  the  town  were  igno- 
rant of  it  till  the  third  hour  of  the  day,  that  is,  three  hours 
after  sunrise,  which  would  arise  from  the  distance  of  one 
cluster  of  houses  from  another.  Besides,  the  cities  of  Asia 
are  built  very  different  from  those  of  Europe ;  the  houses  be- 
ing widely  separate  from  each  other,  and  having  gardens, 
parks,  and  enclosures  on  the  sides  and  behind,  though  the 
gf  reets  facing  the  houses  are  narrow.  Taking  these  facts  into 
consideration,  and  remembering  that  Babylon  was  the  seat  of 
royalty,  and  that  a  large  part  of  the  space  enclosed  was  oc- 
cupted  by  the  royal  palaces,  parks  and  gardens,  besides  the 
Mujelibe,  the  Temple  of  Belus,  etc.,  it  may  be  safely  conjec- 
tured, that  not  above  one-third  of  the  enclosure  was  occupied 
by  habitations,  or  three  times  the  space  occupied  by  London, 
which  is  reckoned  at  sixteen  square  miles.  On  this  reduced 
scale,  the  population  would  be  enormous,  amounting  to 
between  three  and  four  millions  of  human  beings  ;  yet  a  num 
ber  not  beyond  the  bounds  of  belief. 


02  mSTORY  OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS. 

It  remains  now  to  trace  out  how  far  the  aspect  of  the  ruins 
of  Babylon  answers  to  the  recorded  predictions  of  Scripture. 
The  prophet  says, 

"  -And  Babylon  shall  become  heaps." — Jcr.  li.  37. 

And  what,  it  may  be  asked,  are  the  mounds  of  the  Kars, 
the  Mujehbe,  the  Amram,  the  Anana,  the  triangular  mound 
east  of  the  Birs,  and  the  maiestic  Birs  itself,  but  immense 
heaps  ?  Vast  tumuli,  and  palaces  of  human  habitations  of 
every  description,  buried  in  undistinguishable  heaps,  are  all 
that  remain  of  this  once  "  golden  city."  "  From  the  summit  of 
the  ruins  of  the  Tower  or  Temple  of  Belus,  235  feet  high," 
says  Major  Keppel,  "  we  had  a  distinct  view  of  the  vast  heaps 
v/hich  constitute  all  that  now  remains  of  ancient  Babylon :  a 
more  complete  picture  of  desolation  could  not  well  be  ima- 
gined. The  eye  wandered  over  a  barren  desert,  in  which 
the  ruins  were  nearly  the  only  indication  that  it  had  ever  been 
inhabited.  It  was  impossible  to  behold  this  scene,  and  not  to 
be  reminded  how  exactly  the  predictions  of  Isaiah  and  Jere- 
miah have  been  fulfilled,"  etc. 

The  prophet  says, 

"  A  drought  is  upon  her  waters— and  they  shall  be  dried  up. 
And  I  will  dry  up  her  sea,  and  make  her  springs  dry."— Jer.  1.  38 ;  li.  36. 

"  The  ground,  at  the  time  we  passed  it,"  records  Rich, 
"  was  perfectly  dry." 
The  prophet  says, 

"  The  sea  is  come  up  upon  Babylon  : 
She  is  covered  with  the  multitude  of  the  waves  thereof."— Ji?r.  li.  42. 

Thus  apparently  contradicting  his  previous  denunciation. 
But  the  prophet  does  not  intend  the  ocean  by  the  term  "  sea," 
but  an  extensive  body  of  water.  And  Rich  says,  "  The  ruins 
of  Babylon  are  inundated,  when  the  Euphrates  is  at  its  heighj, 
so  as  to  render  many  parts  of  them  inaccessible,  by  converting 
the  valleys  among  them  into  morasses." 

The  prophet  says, 

"  Bel  is  confounded, 
Merodach  is  broken  in  pieces  ; 
Her  idols  are  confounded. 
Her  images  are  broken  in  pieces," — Jer.  1.  2. 

"Therefore,  behold,  the  days  are  come, 
That  I  will  do  judgment  upon  the  graven  images  of  Babylon." 

Jer.  11.  47. 


mSTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  53 

Rich  says :  "  We  found  the  sculpture  of  a  lion  among  the 
ruins."  And  Ker  Porter's  work  on  Babylon  exhibits  several 
specimens  of  their  idolatrous  worship,  as  engraved  on  cylin- 
ders dug  out  of  the  ruins. 

The  prophet  says, 

"  Yea,  the  wall  of  Babylon  shall  fall. 
The  broad  walls  of  Babylon  shall  be  utterly  broken, 
And  her  high  gates  shall  be  burned  with  fire." — Jer.  ii.  41^  58. 

Kinnier  says,  that  captain  Frederic  rode  twenty-one  miles 
in  length,  and  twelve  in  breadth,  but  was  unable  to  discover 
any  thing  that  could  admit  of  a  conclusion  that  either  wall  or 
ditch  had  ever  existed  within  the  area.  Rich  and  Ker  Porter 
bear  the  same  testimony  ;  but  Buckingham,  in  his  chapter  en- 
titled "  Search  after  the  Walls  of  Babylon,"  states,  that  he  dis- 
covered, on  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  ruins,  on  the  sum- 
mit of  a  large  ruinous  heap,  "  a  mass  of  solid  wall,  about 
thirty  feet  in  length,  by  twelve  or  fifteen  in  thickness,  yet  evi- 
dently once  of  much  greater  dimensions  each  way  ;  the  work 
being,  in  its  present  state,  broken  and  incomplete  in  every 
part ;"  which  heap  of  rubbish  and  ruins,  he  conjectures,  on 
many  plausible  grounds,  to  be  a  part,  and  the  only  part  that 
can  be  discovered,  of  the  walls  of  Babylon,  so  utterly  are  they 
broken. 

The  city  of  Babylon  was  situated  in  a  perfect  level :  but 
the  prophet  says, 

"  Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  O  destroying  mountain,  saith  the  Lord, 
Which  destroyest  all  the  earth  : 
And  I  will  stretch  out  mine  hand  upon  thee, 
And  roll  thee  down  from  the  rocks, 
And  will  make  thee  a  burnt  mountain. 
And  they  shall  not  take  of  thee  a  stone  for  a  corner, 
Nor  a  stone  for  foundations  ; 
But  thou  shalt  be  desolate  for  ever,  saith  the  Lord." — Jer.  li.  25,  26. 

This  notion  of  a  mountain,  it  has  been  said,  in  the  midst 
of  a  perfect  flat,  visited  in  all  parts  by  the  waters  of  the  river, 
or  by  pools  thence  derived^  is  exceedingly  strange  and  unna- 
tural. But  evidence  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  prediction  is 
clearly  afforded  by  the  Birs  Nemroud.  Rich  relates:  "I 
visited  it  under  circumstances  pecuharly  favourable  to  the 
grandeur  of  its  effect.  The  morning  was  at  first  stormy,  and 
threatened  a  severe  fall  of  rain  ;  but  as  we  approached  the  ob- 
ject of  our  journey,  the  heavy  clouds  separating,  discovered 
the  Birs  frowning  over  the  plain,  and  presenting  the  appear- 


54  HISTORY   OF    THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

ance  of  a  circular  hill  crowned  by  a  tower,  Avith  a  high  ridge 
extending  along  the  foot  of  it.  It  being  entirely  concealed 
from  our  view  during  the  first  part  of  our  ride,  prevented  our 
acquiring  the  gradual  idea  so  generally  prejudicial  to  effect, 
and  so  particularly  lamented  by  those  who  have  seen  the  Py- 
ramids. Just  as  we  were  in  the  proper  distance,  it  burst  at 
once  upon  our  sight,  in  the  midst  of  rolling  masses  of  dark 
thick  clouds  partially  obscured  by  that  kind  of  haze  whose 
indistinctness  is  one  great  cause  of  sublimity,  whilst  a  few 
strong  catches  of  stormy  light,  thrown  upon  the  desert  in  the 
back  ground,  served  to  give  some  idea  of  the  immense  exten't 
and  dreary  solitude  of  the  wastes  by  which  this  venerable 
ruin  stands."  Here,  then,  is  a  great  mountain,  and  this  trav- 
eller, in  describing  the  appearance  of  the  Birs  Nemroud, 
says :  "  The  other  parts  of  the  summit  of  this  hill  are  occupied 
by  immense  fragments  of  brickwork,  of  no  determinate 
figure,  tumbled  together,  and  converted  into  solid  vitrified 
masses^  as  if  they  had  undergone  the  fiercest  fire^  or  been 
blown  up  with  gunpowder^  the  layers  of  brick  being  perfectly 
discernible — a  curious  fact,  and  one  for  which  I  am  utterly 
unable  to  account."  Ker  Porter  also  states ;  "  At  the  foot  of  this 
piece  of  wall  lay  several  immense  unshapen  masses  of  brick- 
work, some  entirely  changed  to  a  state  of  the  hardest  vitrifi- 
cation ;  the  lines  of  the  cement  are  visible,  and  so  hardened, 
in  common  with  the  bricks,  that,  when  the  masses  are  struck, 
they  ring  like  glass.  The  heat  of  the  fire,  which  produced 
such  amazing  effects,  must  have  burnt  with  the  heat  of  the 
strongest  furnace."  Here,  then,  is  a  "  burnt  mountain,"  and  the 
prophecy  is  seen  to  be  accomplished. 
The  prophet  says, 

"And  Babylon,  the  glory  of  kingdoms, 
The  beauty  of  the  Chaldees'  excellency, 
Shall  be  as  when  God  overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomorrah. 
It  shall  never  be  inhabited. 

Neither  shall  it  be  dwelt  in  from  generation  to  generation : 
Neither  shall  the  Arabian  pitch  tent  there  ; 
Neither  shall  the  shepherds  make  their  fold  there. 
But  wild  beasts  of  the  desert  shall  lie  there; 
And  their  houses  shall  be  full  of  doleful  creatures  ; 
And  owls  shall  dwell  there. 
And  satyrs  shall  dance  there. 

And  the  wild  beasts  of  the  islands  shall  cry  in  their  desolate  houses, 
And  dragons  in  their  pleasant  palaces." — Isa.  xiii.  19 — 22. 

Ker  Porter  testifies :  "  As  for  the  abundance  of  the  coun- 
try, it  has  vanished  as  clean  away  as  if  the  besom  of  desola- 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS,  55 

hOD  hid  indeed  swept  it  from  north  to  south  ;  the  whole  land, 
from  the  outskirts  of  Bagdad  to  the  farthest  stretch  of  sight, 
lying  a  melancholy  waste."  The  curse  has  fallen,  in  all  its 
tremendous  weight,  upon  Babylon.  Not  a  blade  of  grass 
^rows  there.  The  same  author,  speaking  of  his  excursion 
^/om  Hillah,  north-east  to  the  mound  of  Al  Hymer,  says: 
•"^  Now  there  was  not  a  drop  of  water  in  any  of  the  canals. 
Li  very  spot  of  ground  in  sight  was  totally  barren,  and  on  sev- 
/jral  tracts  appeared  the  common  marks  of  former  building. 
J 11  like  manner,  the  decomposing  materials  of  a  Babylonian. 
<<1,ructure  doom  the  earth  on  which  they  perish  to  a  lasting 
sterility.  On  this  part  of  the  plain,  both  where  traces  of  build- 
'^g  were  left,  and  where  none  had  stood,  all  seemed  equally 
iaaked  of  vegetation  ;  the  whole  ground  appearing  as  if  it  had 
been  washed  over  and  over  again,  by  the  coming  and  reced- 
ing waters,  till  every  bit  of  genial  soil  was  washed  away ;  its 
aalf  clay,  half  sandy  surface  being  left  in  ridgy  streaks,  like 
what  is  often  seen  on  the  flat  shores  of  the  sea  after  the  re- 
creating of  the  tide."  Hence  it  is  that  the  Arab  does  not  pitch 
his  tent,  nor  the  shepherd  make  his  fold  there ;  hence  it  is 
that  Babylon  is  now  uninhabited. 

With  reference  to  the  second  division  of  this  prophecy,  the 
fostimony  of  travellers  also  attests  its  accomplishment.  Rich 
Atates  :  "  There  are  many  dens  of  wild  beasts  in  various  parts : 
in  one  of  which  I  found  the  bones  of  sheep  and  other  animals, 
(md  perceived  a  strong  smell  like  that  of  a  lion."  And  again : 
"  All  the  people  of  this  country  assert,  that  it  is  extremely  dan- 
gerous to  approach  the  Kasr,  or  Palace,  after  night-fall,  on 
Bccount  of  the  multitude  of  evil  spirits  by  which  it  is  haunted." 
A  more  emphatic  illustration  of  the  accomplishment  of  this 
prediction  is  found  in  the  works  of  Ker  Porter.  lie  says : 
''  In  this  my  second  visit  to  the  Birs  Nemroud,  while  passing 
rapidly  over  the  last  tracts  of  the  ruin-spread  ground,  at  some 
little  distance  from  the  outer  bank  of  its  quadrangle  boundary, 
my  party  suddenly  halted,  having  descried  several  dark  ob- 
jects moving  along  the  summit  of  its  hill,  which  they  con^ 
Btrued  into  dismounted  Arabs  on  the  lookout,  while  their 
armed  brethren  must  be  lying  concealed  under  the  southern 
brow  of  this  mound.  Thinking  this  very  probable,  I  took  out 
my  glass  to  examine,  and  soon  distinguished  that  the  causes 
of  our  alarm  were  two  or  three  majestic  lions,  taking  the  air 
upon  the  heights  of  the  pyramid.  Perhaps  I  had  never  seen 
so  sublime  a  picture  to  the  mind  as  well  as  to  the  eye.  These 
were  a  species  of  enemy  which  my  party  were  accustomed  to 


56  HISTORY   OF   THE    ASSYHIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

dread,  without  any  panic  fear ;  and  \yhile  we  continued  to 
advance,  though  slowly,  the  hallooing  of  the  people  made  the 
noble  beasts  gradually  change  their  position,  till,  in  the  course 
of  twenty  minutes,  they  disappeared.  We  then  rode  up  close 
to  the  ruins,  and  I  had  once  more  the  gratification  of  ascend- 
ing the  awful  sides  of  the  Tower  of  Babel.  In  my  progress, 
I  stopped  several  times  to  look  at  the  broad  prints  of  the  feet 
of  the  lions,  left  plain  in  the  clayey  soil ;  and,  by  the  track,  I 
saw,  that  if  we  had  chosen  to  rouse  such  royal  game,  we 
needed  not  to  have  gone  far  to  find  their  lair.  But  while  thus 
actually  contemplating  these  savage  tenants,  wandering  amid 
the  ruins  of  Babylon,  and  bedding  themselves  within  the  deep 
cavities  of  the  once  magnificent  temple,  I  could  not  help  re- 
flecting on  how  faithfully  the  various  prophecies  had  been 
fulfilled,  which  relate,  in  the  Scriptures,  to  the  utter  fall  of 
Babylon,  and  the  abandonment  of  the  place." 

Thus  faithfully  and  beautifully  do  the  word  of  prophecy 
and  ocular  demonstration  agree,  with  reference  to  the  present 
appearance  of  Babylon.  But  the  greatness  of  Babylon  did 
not  depart  in  a  day ;  and  each  step,  in  the  progress  of  its  de- 
cline, was  an  accomplishment  of  a  prediction.  Conquered  for 
the  first  time,  (the  particulars  of  which  may  be  found  in  the 
chapter  of  the  kingdom  of  Assyria,)  it  was  first  reduced  from 
an  imperial  to  a  tributary  city. 

"  Come  down,  and  sit  in  the  dost,  O  virgin  daughter  of  Babylon, 
Sit  on  the  ground  : 

There  is  no  throne,  O  daughter  of  the  Chaldeans  : 
For  thou  shalt  no  more  be  called  tender  and  delicate. 
Take  the  millstones,  and  grind  meal  :* 
Uncover  thy  locks,  make  bare  the  leg. 
Uncover  the  thigh,  pass  over  the  rivers. 
Thy  nakedness  shall  be  uncovered, 

*  Dr.  Henderson  says,  that  the  mill  here  referred  to  is  a  hand-mill,  re- 
sembling the  Scotch  quern,  and  consisting  of  an  upper  and  lower  stone, 
the  latter  of  which  is  fixed,  and  the  former  is  made  to  move  round  upon 
it  by  means  of  a  handle.  The  work  is  very  laborious,  and  in  the  east  is 
confined  to  female  slaves,  or  other  females  in  low  circumstances.  Homer 
speaks  of  the  employment  as  the  work  of  slaves : 
"Beneath  a  pile  that  close  the  dome  adjoin'd, 

Twelve  female  slaves  the  gift  of  Ceres  grind  : 

Task'd  for  the  royal  board  to  boll  the  bran 

From  the  pure  flour  (the  growth  and  strength  of  man,) 

Discharcring  to  the  day  the  labour  due, 

Now  early  to  repose  the  rest  \Yithdrew  ; 

One  maid,  unequal  to  the  task  assign'd. 

Still  turn'd  the  toilsome  mill  with  anxious  mind." — Odyss.  xx.  105-108. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  57 

Vea,  thy  shame  shall  be  seen  : 

I  will  take  vengeance, 

And  I  will  not  meet  thee  as  a  man. 

As  for  our  Redeemer,  the  Lord  of  hosts  is  his  name, 
The  Holy  One  of  Israel. 

Sit  thou  silent,  and  get  thee  into  darkness,  O  daughter  of  the  Chaldeans : 
For  thou  shalt  no  more  be  called,  The  lady  of  kingdoms."— /sa.  xlvii.  1—5. 

According  to  Herodotus,  the  Babylonians  rebelled  against 
Darius,  and  the  walls  were  reduced  in  height,  and  all  the 
gates  destroyed. 

"  Put  yourselves  in  array  against  Babylon  round  about: 
All  ye  that  bend  the  bow, 
Shoot  at  her,  spare  no  arrows : 
For  she  hath  sinned  against  the  Lord. 
Shout  against  her  round  about ; 
She  hath  given  her  hand : 
Her  foundations  are  fallen. 
Her  walls  are  thrown  down : 
For  it  is  the  vengeance  of  the  Lord : 
Take  vengeance  upon  her ; 
As  she  hath  done,  do  unto  her." — Jer.  I.  14,  15. 

The  temples  and  palaces  of  Babylon  were  rifled  and  de- 
stroyed by  Xerxes,  in  his  rage  after  his  ignominious  retreat 
from  Greece. 

"  And  I  will  punish  Bel  in  Babylon, 
And  I  will  bring  forth  out  of  his  mouth  that  which  he  hath  swallowed  up : 
And  the  nations  shall  not  flow  together  any  more  unto  him. 
Wherefore,  behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord, 
That  1  will  do  judgment  upon  her  graven  images."— Jer.  li.  44,  52. 

That  celebrated  warrior,  Alexander  the  Great,  attempted  to 
restore  Babylon  to  its  former  glory;  and  he  conceived  an 
idea  of  making  it  the  metropolis  of  an  universal  empire.  But 
man  is  impotent  to  save  that  which  his  Maker  has  doomed  to 
destruction.  While  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  of  Belus, 
and  the  reparation  of  the  embankment  of  the  Euphrates  were 
carrying  forward,  the  conqueror  was  cut  off  in  the  height  of 
his  power,  and  the  flower  of  his  age. 

"Take  balm  for  her  pain. 
If  so  she  may  be  healed. 
We  would  have  healed  Babylon,  but  she  is  not  healed." — Jer.  li.  8,  9. 

Diodorus  relates,  that  Seleucia,  according  to  the  design  of 
its  founder,  was  the  chief  cause  of  the  decline  of  Babylon  as  a 
city,  and  that  it  drained  it  of  a  great  part  of  its  population.  A 
later  writer  also  observes,  that  about  130  years  b.  c,  Hume- 


58  HISTORY   OF    THE   ASSYRIANS   AKD    CHALDEANS. 

rus,  a  Parthian  governor,  who  was  noted  as  surpassing-  all 
tyrants  in  cruelty,  exercised  great  severities  on  the  Babyloni- 
ans, and  having  burned  the  Forum  and  some  of  the  temples, 
and  destroyed  the  best  portions  of  the  city,  reduced  many  of 
the  inhabitants  to  slavery,  and  caused  them,  with  their  families^ 
to  be  transported  into  Media. 

"  For  out  of  the  north  there  comcth  up  a  nation  against  her, 
Which  shall  make  her  land  desolate, 
And  none  shall  dwell  therein  : 
They  shall  remove,  they  shall  depart 
Both  man  and  beast." — Jcr.  \,  3, 

Thus  Babylon  gradually  verged  for  centuries,  towards 
poverty  and  desolation.  Although  Cyrus  chiefly  resided 
there,  and  sought  to  reform  the  government,  and  remodel  the 
manners  of  the  Babylonians,  successive  kings  of  Persia  pre- 
ferred Susa,  Persepolis,  and  Ecbatana,  as  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment. In  like  manner,  the  successors  of  Alexander  made  no 
attempt  to  carry  his  design  of  restoring  Babylon  into  effect ; 
and,  after  the  division  of  his  empire,  the  very  kings  of  As- 
syria deserted  the  "golden  city,"  and  dwelt  in  Seleucia.  All 
appeared  to  reiterate  the  words  of  the  prophet : — 

"  Forsake  her,  and  let  us  go  every  one  into  his  own  country: 
For  her  judgment  reacheth  unto  heaven, 
And  is  lifted  up  even  to  the  skies." — Jer.  li.  9. 

It  was  not  to  Babylon  alone  that  the  judgments  of  heaven 
were  confined.  They  rested  on  the  land,  as  well  as  the 
doomed  metropolis ;  and  it  is  pleasing  to  trace  out  how  beau- 
tifully the  word  of  prophec}?-  and  history  harm.onize  in  the 
destruction  of  Chaldea.  Speaking  of  the  nations  that  were  to 
lay  waste  the  country,  the  prophet  says : 

"  The  noise  of  a  multitude  in  the  mountains,  like  as  of  a  great  people  j 
A  tumultuous  noise  of  the  kingdoms  of  nations  gathered  together; 
The  Lord  of  hosts  mustereth  the  host  of  the  battle. 
They  come  from  a  far  country, 
P'rom  the  end  of  heaven, 

Even  the  Lord,  and  the  weapons  of  his  indignation, 
To  destroy  the  whole  land." — Isa.  xiii.  4,  5. 

"  For  many  nations  and  great  kings  shall  serve  themselves 
of  them  also :  and  I  will  recompense  them  according  to  their 
deeds,  and  according  to  the  works  of  their  own  hands,"  Jer. 
XXV.  14. 

Among  the  nations  who  have  served  themselves  of  the  land 
of  the  Chaldeans  may  be  enumerated  the  Persians,  Macedo- 


HISTORY  OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  69 

nians,  Parthians,  Romans,  Saracens,  and  Turks :  and  among 
the  great  kings  who  have  successively  subdued  and  desolated 
Chaldea,  may  be  mentioned  Alexander  the  Great;  Cyrus 
and  Darius,  kings  of  Persia :  Seleucus,  king  of  Syria ;  Tra- 
jan, Severus,  and  Julian,  emperors  of  Rome  ;  and  Omar,  the 
successor  of  Mohammed.  Some  of  these  nations  were  un- 
known to  the  Babylonians,  and  unheard  of  in  the  world  at  the 
time  in  which  the  prophecy  was  delivered  ;  and  most  of  them, 
with  reference  to  their  local  relation  to  Chaldea,  may  be  truly 
said  to  have  come  "  from  a  far  country,"  and  "  from  the  end 
of  heaven." 

The  prophet  describes  their  dispositions,  exhibiting  them  as 

"  Cruel  both  with  wrath  and  fierce  anger, 
To  lay  the  land  desolate."— /sa.  xiii.  9. 

The  Persians  and  Parthians  vied  with  each  other  in  cruelty 
and  fierceness  against  both  resisting  and  subjugated  enemies. 
History  records,  that  three  thousand  Babylonians  were  im- 
paled at  one  time,  by  order  of  Darius.  After  this,  they  were 
cruelly  treated  by  the  Macedonian  conquerors  of  Babylon, 
and  at  the  time  when  the  possession  of  Chaldea  was  contested 
between  Antigonus  and  Seleucus.  So  were  they,  also,  under 
the  proverbially  cruel  Parthians  ;  and  in  the  second  century 
of  the  Christian  era,  the  Romans,  who  came  "  from  a  far 
country,"  proved  themselves  to  be  cruel  and  fierce  desolators 
of  Chaldea.  "  Under  the  reign  of  Marcus,"  says  Gibbon, 
"the  Roman  generals  penetrated  as  far  as  Ctesiphon  and 
Seleilcia.  They  were  received  as  friends  by  the  Greek 
colony :  they  attacked,  as  enemies,  the  seat  of  the  Parthian 
kino-s  ;  Vet  both  cities  experienced  the  same  treatment.  The 
sack  and  conflagration  of  Seleucia,  with  the  massacre  of 
300,000  of  the  inhabitants  tarnished  the  glory  of  the  Roman 
triumph.  Seleucia  sunk  under  the  fatal  blow,  but  Ctesiphon, 
in  about  thirty-three  years,  had  sufHciently  recovered  its 
streno-th  to  maintain  an  obstinate  siege  against  the  emperor 
Sevenis.  Ctesiphon  was  thrice  besieged,  and  thrice  taken  by 
the  predecessors  of  Julian."  This  emperor  carried  on  the 
fearful  work  of  his  predecessors.  The  fields  of  Assyria  were 
devoted  by  him  to  the  calainities  of  war;  and  the  philosopher 
retaliated  on  a  guiltless  people,  those  acts  of  rapme  and 
cruelty  which  had  been  committed  by  their  haughty  master 
in  the  Roman  provinces.  The  Persians  looked  from  the 
walls  of  Ctesiphon,  and  beheld  the  desolation  of  the  adjacent 
country      The  extensive  region  that  lies  between  the  river 


60  HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSmiANS   AND    ClIALDEAIvrS. 

Tigris  and  the  mountains  of  Media  was  filled  with  villages 
and  towns,  and  the  fertile  soil,  for  the  most  part,  w^as  in  a 
state  of  high  cultivation.  But,  on  the  approach  of  the  Romans^ 
this  rich  and  smiling  prospect  vanished.  Wherever  they 
marched,  the  inhabitants  de^rted  the  open  villages,  and  took 
shelter  in  the  fortified  towns ;  the  cattle  w^ere  driven  away ; 
the  grass  and  corn  were  consumed  by  fire ;  and  as  soon  as 
the  flames  had  subsided  which  interrupted  the  march  of 
Julian,  the  vindictive  conqueror  beheld  the  melancholy  face 
of  a  smoking  and  naked  desert.  Perisabor,  the  second  city 
of  the  province,  resisted  a  fierce  and  desperate  assault.  But 
it  was  in  vain  ;  a  breach  having  been  made  in  the  walls,  the 
soldiers  rushed  impetuously  into  the  town,  and  after  practising 
every  lawless  excess,  the  city  was  reduced  to  ashes,  and  ths 
engines  which  assaulted  the  citadel  were  planted  on  the  ruins 
of  the  smoking  houses.  In  the  end,  the  Turks,  aided  by  the 
fierce  Saracens,  Koords,  and  Tartars,  with  persevering 
cruelty,  became  the  scourge  of  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans. 
Verily, 

"  The  Lord  hath  opened  his  Jirniour}^ 
And  liath  brought  forth  the  weapons  of  his  indignation  : 
For  this  is  the  work  of  the  Lord  God  of  hosSs 
In  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans."— ^i-v.  L  25, 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ; 

Behold,  I  will  raise  up  against  Babylon, 

And  against  them  that  dwell  in  the  midst  of  them  that  rise  up  against  me, 

A  destroying  wind ', 

And  will  send  unto  Balnlon  fanncTs, 

That  shall  fan  her,  and  shall  empty  her  land: 

For  in  the  day  of  trouble  they  shall  be  against  her  round  about. 

Against  him  that  bendeth  let  the  archer  bend  his  bow, 

And  against  him  that  lifteth  himself  up  in  his  l)rigandinc  : 

And  spare  ye  not  her  young  men ; 

Destroy  ye  utterly  all  her  liost. 

Thus  the  slain  shall  fall  in  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans, 

And  they  that  are  thrust  through  in  her  streets."— J^r.  li.  1—4, 
"  Waste  and  utterly  destroy  after  them  saith  the  Lord, 

And  do  according  to  all  that  I  have  commanded  thee. 

A  sound  of  battle  is  in  the  land, 

And  of  great  destruction. 

And  1  will  kindle  a  fire  in  his  cities. 

And  it  shall  devour  all  round  about  h\m.''—Jer.  I.  21,  22,  32. 

Again,  the  prophet,  in  describing  the  ravages  in  the  land 
of  the  Chaldeans,  says : 

"  Remove  out  of  the  midst  of  Babylon, 
And  go  forth  out  of  the  land  of  "the  Chaldeans, 
And  be  as  the  he  goats  before  the  flocks. 


HISTORY    OF    THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  61 

For,  lo,  I  will  raise 

And  cause  to  come  up  against  Babylon 

An  assembly  of  great  nations  from  the  north  country; 

And  they  shall  set  themselves  in  array  against  her ; 

From  thence  she  shall  be  taken  ; 

Their  arrows  shall  be  as  of  a  mighty  expert  man  ; 

None  shall  return  in  vain. 

And  Chaldca  shall  be  a  spoil : 

All  that  spoil  her  shall  be  satisfied,  saith  the  Lord, 

Come  against  her  from  the  utmost  border, 

Open  her  storehouses : 

Cast  her  up  as  heaps,  and  destroy  her  utterly  : 

Let  nothing  of  her  be  left. 

A  sword  is  upon  her  treasures — and  they  shall  be  robbed." 

Jer.  1.  8—10.    26.  37. 

"  O  thou  that  dwellest  upon  many  waters,  abundant  in  treasures, 
Thineendiscome,  and  the  measure  of  thy  covetousness." — Jer.  li.  13. 

When  Cyrus  captured  Babylon,  he  became  possessed  of 

'*  The  treasures  of  darkness. 
And  hidden  riches  of  secret  places," — Isa.  xlv.  3, 

But  he  did  not  retain  them  in  his  own  hands.  Instead  of 
heaping  up  his  wealth  uselessly,  his  great  object  was  to  re- 
lieve those  who  made  their  wants  known  to  him.  So  great 
was  his  liberality,  that  Crcesus  remarked  to  him,  that  he 
would  make  himself  poor,  though  he  might  have  been  the 
richest  prince  in  the  world.  After  Cyrus,  Alexander,  that 
"  mighty  robber,"  spoiled  Babylon ;  and  he,  also,  distributed 
its  wealth  to  his  followers.  To  every  Macedonian  horseman 
he  presented  six  minre,  about  15/.  sterling;  and  to  every 
Macedonian  soldier  and  foreign  horseman  two  mince,  about 
5/. ;  and  to  every  other  man  in  his  army  a  donation  equal  to 
two  months'  pay.  Successive  ages  brought  successive  spolia- 
tors. Many  nations  came  from  afar,  and  none  returned  to 
their  own  land  in  vain.  It  was  the  prey  of  the  Persians  and 
the  Greeks  for  nearly  two  centuries  ;  then  of  the  Parthians 
from  the  north,  for  an  equal  period  ;  till  a  greater  nation,  the 
Romans,  came  from  the  distant  parts  of  the  earth,  to  rob  the 
land  of  its  treasures.  "  A  hundred  thousand  captives,"  says 
Gibbon,  '^and  a  rich  booty,  rewarded  the  fatigues  of  the 
Roman  soldiers,  w^hen  Ctesiphon  was  taken,  in  the  second 
century,  by  the  generals  of  Marcus."  Nor  did  Julian,  who, 
in  the  fourth  century,  was  forced  to  raise  the  siege  of  Ctesi- 
phon, go  in  vain  to  the  land  of  Chaldea.  He  also  failed  not 
to  take  of  it  a  spoil,  and,  though  an  apostate,  he  verified  by 
his  acts  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures  u'hich  he  denied.     After 

VOL   II.  G 


62  HISTORY   OF   THE    ASSYEIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

devoting"  Perisabor  to  the  flames,  the  magazines  of  corn,  arms, 
and  splendid  furniture  were  partly  distributed  among  the 
troops,  and  partly  reserved  for  the  public  service ;  the  useless 
stores  Avere  destroyed  by  fire,  or  thrown  into  the  Euphrates. 
At  this  time,  also,  he  rewarded  his  army  with  a  hundred 
pieces  of  silver,  and  when  the  enemy  were  afterwards  con- 
quered, the  spoil,  says  Gibbon,  was  such  as  might  be  expected 
from  the  riches  and  luxury  of  an  oriental  camp :  large  quan- 
tities of  silver  and  gold,  splendid  arms  and  trappings,  and 
beds  and  tables  of  precious  metal  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
conquerors. 

A  more  emphatic  illustration  of  the  prediction,  that  "  A 
sword  is  upon  her  treasures,"  took  place  when  the  Moham- 
medan, Omar,  destroyed  Ctesiphon.  This  city  was  taken  by 
assault,  and  the  disorderly  resistance  of  the  people  gave  a 
keener  edge  to  the  sabres  of  the  Moslems,  who  shouted  with 
religious  transport,  "  This  is  the  white  palace  of  the  Chos- 
roes ;  this  is  the  promise  of  the  apostle  of  God."  These 
naked  robbers  were  suddenly  enriched  beyond  all  expecta- 
tion. Each  chamber  revealed  a  new  treasure,  secreted  with 
art,  or  ostentatiously  displayed.  The  gold  and  silver,  the 
various  wardrobes,  and  precious  furniture,  surpassed  the  esti- 
mate of  fancy  or  numbers.  An  ancient  historian  defines  the 
untold  and  vast  mass,  by  the  fabulous  computation  of  three 
thousand  of  thousands  of  thousands  of  pieces  of  gold.  One 
of  the  apartments  of  the  palace  was  decorated  with  a  carpet  of 
silk  sixty  cubits  in  length,  and  as  many  in  breadth.  A  para- 
dise, or  garden,  was  depicted  on  the  ground  of  this  carpet ; 
the  flowers,  fruits,  and  shrubs,  were  imitated  by  the  figures 
of  gold  embroidery,  and  the  colours  of  precious  stones,  while 
the  ample  square  was  enriched  by  a  varigated  and  verdant 
border.  Omar  divided  this  prize  among  his  brethren  of  Me- 
dina, and  the  picture  was  destroyed ;  but  such  was  the  value 
thereof,  that  the  share  of  Ali  alone  was  sold  for  20,000 
drachms,  or  nearly  700^.  sterling. 

This  prophecy  receives  an  accomplishment  at  the  present 
day.  A  sword  may  still  be  said  to  be  upon  her  treasures. 
Make  Brun,  in  his  geography  says:  "On  the  west  of 
Hillah  there  are  two  towns,  which,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Per- 
sians, and  all  the  Shiites,  are  rendered  sacred  by  the  memory 
of  two  of  the  greatest  martyrs  of  that  sect.  These  are  Meshid 
Ali  and  Meshed  Housein,  lately  filled  with  riches,  accu- 
mulated by  the  devotion  of  the  Persians,  but  carried  off  by 
the  ferocious  Wahabees  to  the  middle  of  their  deserts."     A 


mSTOR-Y   OF   THE    ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  68 

more  recent  proof  that  the  treasures  of  Chaldea  are  still 
sought  after,  is  found  in  Captain  Mignan's  travels:  "Amidst 
the  ruins  of  Ctesiphon,"  he  says,  "  the  natives  often  pick  up 
coins  of  gold,  silver,  and  copper,  for  which  they  always  find 
a  ready  sale  in  Bagdad.  Indeed,  some  of  the  wealthy  Turks 
and  Armenians,  who  are  collecting  for  several  French  and 
German  consuls,  hire  people  to  go  and  search  for  coins, 
medals,  and  antique  gems ;  and,  I  am  assured,  they  never 
return  to  their  employers  empty-handed." 

The  predictions  against  the  fertility  of  the  land  of  Chaldea 
have  no  less  been  verified  than  those  against  her  treasures 
and  her  cities. 

"  Behold,  the  hindermost  of  the  nations  shall  be 

A  wilderness,  a  dry  land,  and  a  desert. 

Cut  off  the  sower  from  Babylon, 

And  him  that  handleth  the  sickle  in  the  time  of  harvest." — Jcr.  1.  12,  16. 
*'  The  land  shall  tremble  and  sorrow  : 

For  every  purpose  of  the  Lord  shall  be  performed  against  Babylon, 

To  make  the  land  of  Babylon  a  desolation 

Without  an  inhabitant. 

The  daughter  of  Babylon  is  like  a  threshingfloor, 

It  is  time  to  thresh  her  : 

Yet  a  little  while,  and  the  time  of  her  harvest  shall  come. 

Her  cities  are  a  desolation, 

A  dry  land,  and  a  wilderness, 

A  land  wherein  no  man  dwellcth, 

Neither  doth  any  son  of  man  pass  thereby." — Jcr.  li.  29,  33,  43. 

The  accounts  of  the  Babylonian  lands  yielding  crops  of 
grain  two  and  three  hundred  fold,  compared  v/ith  the  present 
aspect  of  the  country,  afford  a  remarkable  proof  of  the  desola- 
tion to  which  it  has  been  subjected.  And  its  ancient  cities, 
where  are  they?  The  site  of  many  cannot  now  be  dis- 
covered, and  those  that  can,  embrace  the  dust.  Even  the 
more  modern  cities,  which  flourished  under  the  empire  of  the 
khalifs,  are  "all  in  ruins."  Desolation  prevails  over  the 
breadth  and  length  of  the  whole  country.  The  site  of  Baby- 
lon, and  of  all  the  other  towns  in  this  region,  and  the  level 
plain  itself,  are  marked  by  an  appearance  of  utter  barrenness 
and  blast,  as  if  from  the  curse  of  God ;  which  gives  an  in- 
tense and  mournful  corroboration  to  the  denunciations  of 
Scripture. 

And  let  us  be  assured,  that  if  they  were  thus  verified  to  the 
letter,  as  the  desolation  of  proud  and  wicked  nations,  they  will 
not  be  less  truly  marked  as  to  their  fulfillment  in  the  case  of 
the  unbelieving  and  sinful  rejector  of  the  offers  of  the  gospel 


"64  HISTORY   OF    THE   ASSYRIAIN^S   AND    CHALDEANS. 

of  Christ.  Such  shall  assuredly  die  in  his  sins  ;  and  having 
slighted  mercy,  shall  feel  the  rod  of  offended  justice. 

Thus,  with  the  progressive  decline  of  Chaldea,  Babylon 
the  Great  sunk  into  utter  ruin,  so  that  now  her  habitations 
are  not  to  be  found ;  and  the  worm  is  spread  over  her.  When 
it  became  wholly  deserted,  however  is  not  satisfactorily  deter- 
mined. Strabo  says,  that  in  his  time  a  great  part  of  it  w^as  a 
mere  desert ;  that  the  Persians  had  partially  destroyed  it ; 
and  that  time  and  the  neglect  of  the  Macedonians  had  nearly 
completed  its  destruction.  Pliny,  who  wa-ote  in  the  reigns  of 
the  emperors  Vespasian  and  Titus,  describes  its  site  as  a 
desert,  and  the  city  as  "dead."  A  few  years  after,  Pausanius 
writes :  "  Of  Babylon,  a  greater  city  than  which  the  sun  did 
not  formerly  behold,  all  that  now  remains  is  the  Temple  of 
Belus,  and  the  walls  of  the  city ;"  and  Jerome,  in  the  fourth 
century,  informs  us,  that  Babylon  was  then  in^ruins,  and 
that  the  walls  served  only  for  the  enclosure  of  a  park,  for  the 
pleasures  of  the  chase ;  and  that  it  w^as  used  as  such  by  the 
Persian  court. 

Reader,  adore  the  omniscience  and  omnipotence  of  the 
Creator  of  the  universe.  He  marked  the  crimes  of  the  inha- 
bitants of  Chaldea,  and  long  before  he  struck  the  blow,  fore- 
told by  his  prophets  their  destruction ;  and  when  the  "  set 
time"  was  come,  he  called  forth  his  armies  and  destroyed 
thcm^  their  cities,  and  their  lands.  But  whilst  thou  admirest 
the  workings  of  his  providence  in  the  wonderful  events,  let  a 
solemn  fear  pervade  thy  breast,  least  thou  also  provoke  his 
righteous  indignation.  Think  not  that  the  crimes  of  an  in- 
dividual escape  his  notice,  while  he  marks  those  of  a  nation. 
"  Nothing  is  secret,  that  shall  not  be  made  manifest ;  neither 
any  thing  hid,  that  shall  not  be  made  known  and  come 
abroad,"  Luke  viii.  17.  He  marks  thy  crimes;  and  unless 
thou  hidest  th^^self  in  the  clefts  of  the  "  Rock  of  ages,  or,  in 
other  words,  unless  thou  takest  refuge  in  Christ,  unless  thou 
believest  in  Him  w^ho  died  to  save  sinners,  thou  also  must 
perish,  and  that  everlastingly.  As  it  was  said  of  Babylon,  so 
the  whole  tenor  of  the  the  word  of  God,  pronounces  to  the 
world  at  large, 

"  And  he  shall  destroy  the  sinners  thereof  out  of  it." — Isa.  xiii.  9. 

Oh,  then,  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come  ! 

It  has  been  well  observed,  that,  though  Babylon  should  be 
vast  as  the  whole  world,  yet  being  a  wicked  world,  it  shall 


HISTORY    OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  65 

not  go  unpunished ;  and  sin  brings  desolation  on  the  world 
of  the  ungodly. 

NINEVEH. 

Like  Babylon,  the  celebrated  city  of  Nineveh  could  boast 
of  very  remote  antiquity.  Who  founded  it  does  not  appear 
to  be  clearly  ascertained.  The  sacred  historian  relates  ;  "Out 
of  that  land  went  forth  Asshur,  and  builded  Nineveh,  and  the 
city  Rehoboth,  and  Calah,  and  Resen  between  Nineveh  and 
and  Calah;  the  same  is  a  great  city,"  Gen.  x.  11,  12.  The 
marginal  reading,  however,  runs  thus,  "  Out  of  that  land  he 
[Nimrod]  went  forth  into  Assyria,"  etc. ;  and  as  the  form  of 
expression  in  the  Hebrew  gives  equal  authority  to  the  margi- 
nal as  to  the  textual  reading,  opinions  are  equally  divided  as 
to  which  of  the  senses  is  to  be  preferred.  But  there  is  one 
consideration  in  favour  of  the  latter,  which  seems  to  be  more 
weighty  than  all  the  arguments  adduced  in  favour  of  the  for- 
mer by  the  learned.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Assur,  or 
Assyria,  derived  its  name  from  Asshur,  the  son  of  Shem; 
hence,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  he  (Asshur)  went  forth 
out  of  that  land,  (Shinar,)  and  builded  Nineveh.  Nothing, 
indeed,  can  be  more  natural  than  to  understand  the  text  of 
Asshur's  migration  ;  and  therefore  none  is  so  likely  to  have 
founded  Nineveh  as  Asshur  himself,  except  it  be  supposed 
that  Nimrod  conquered  the  country  of  Assyria,  before  Asshur 
had  firmly  settled  himself  therein.  But  this  is  not  probable, 
for  the  land  would  then,  we  may  suppose,  have  been  denomi- 
nated Nimrodia,  from  Nimrod,  rather  than  Assyria,  from 
Asshur.  In  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  moreover,  we  read  that 
Asshur  founded  Babel,  Isa.  xxiii.  13  ;  but  in  no  part  of 
Scripture  is  it  intimated  that  Nimrod  went  into  Assyria  and 
built  Nineveh. 

But  whether  Nimrod  or  Asshur  founded  this  city,  it  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  of  much  importance  for  many  cen- 
turies afterward.  The  passage  pointed  out  indeed,  would 
lead  us  to  conclude  that  Resen  was  in  its  origin  a  more  im- 
portant city  than  Nineveh.  Like  other  cities  in  the  east,  and 
like  our  own  mighty  metropolis,  it  rose  gradually  to  the  enor- 
mous magnitude  recorded  by  historians,  when  the  empire  of 
which  it  was  the  capital  attained  to  its  highest  state  of  pros- 
perity. Perhaps  the  commencement  of  its  greatness  may  be 
dated  about  1230  b.  c,  when  it  was  enlarged  by  Ninus,  its 
second  founder,  and  became  the  greatest  city  of  the  world, 
and  mistress  of  the  east. 

6* 


66  HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS    AND    CHALDEAx>,ci. 

It  appears  that  the  city  of  Nineveh  extended  its  length  along 
the  eastern  banks  of  the  Tigris,  while  its  breadth  reached 
from  the  river  to  the  eastern  hills.  According-  to  Diodorus, 
it  was  of  an  oblong  form,  fifteen  miles  long,  and  nine  broad, 
and  consequently  forty-eight  miles  in  circuit.  Its  walls  were 
100  feet  high,  and  so  broad,  that  three  chariots  could  drive  on 
them  abreast,  and  on  the  walls  were  1 ,500  towers,  each  200 
feet  high.  The  reader  must  not  imagine,  however,  that  all 
this  vast  enclosure  was  built  upon.  Like  Babylon,  it  con- 
tained parks,  fields,  and  detached  houses  and  buildings,  such 
as  may  be  seen  in  the  east  at  the  present  day. 

This  representation  of  the  greatness  of  Nineveh  corres- 
ponds with  the  notice  given  of  the  city  in  Holy  Writ.  In 
the  days  of  the  prophet  Jonah,  about  b.  c.  800,  it  is  said  to 
have  been  "an  exceeding  great  city  of  three  days'  journey," 
Jonah  i.  2  ;  iii.  3  ;  which  most  probably  refers  to  its  circuit ; 
for  sixteen  miles  is,  according  to  Rennell,  an  ordinary  day's 
journey  for  a  caravan.  The  population  of  Nineveh,  also,  is 
represented  as  being  very  great ;  it  contained  more  than  six 
score  thousand  persons  that  could  "  not  discern  between  their 
right  hand  and  their  left  hand  ;  and  also  much  cattle,"  Jonah 
iv.  11.  This  statement  is  generally  understood  to  include 
young  children,  who  are  usually  reckoned  to  form  one-fifth 
of  the  entire  population,  which  would  thereby  give,  600,000 
persons  as  the  population  of  Nineveh,  which  is  by  no  means 
extraordinary  for  a  town  of  such  extent.  Pliny  assigns  the 
same  number  for  the  population  of  Seleucia,  on  the  dechne 
of  Bab3don ;  and  London,  in  1831,  contained  not  less  than 
1,776,500  persons,  within  a  circle,  with  a  radius  of  eight 
British  miles  from  St.  Paul's  cathedral. 

It  was  while  the  city  of  Nineveh  enjoyed  this  high  state  of 
prosperity,  that  the  prophet  Jonah  was  commissioned  to  pro- 
claim to  the  inhabitants  this  startling  message,  "  Yet  forty 
days,  and  Nineveh  shall  be  overthrown,"  Jonah  iii.  4.  The 
monarch  and  the  people  believed  his  word,  and  warned  by  it, 
by  a  general  repentance  and  humiliation,  averted  the  blow. 
The  king  of  Nineveh  "  arose  from  his  throne,  and  he  laid 
his  robe  from  him,  and  covered  him  with  sackcloth,  and  sat 
in  ashes.  And  he  caused  it  to  be  proclaimed  and  published 
through  Nineveh  by  the  decree  of  the  king  and  his  nobles, 
saying.  Let  neither  man  nor  beast,  herd  nor  flock,  taste  any 
thing:  let  them  not  feed  nor  drink  water:  but  let  man  and 
beast  be  covered  with  sackcloth,  and  cry  mightily  unto  God : 
yea,  let  them  turn  every  one  from  his  evil  way,  and  from  the 


HISTORY    OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  67 

violence  that  is  in  their  hands.  Who  can  tell  if  God  will 
turn  and  repent,  and  turn  away  from  his  fierce  anger,  that 
we  perish  not?  And  God  saw  their  works,  and  they  turned 
from  their  evil  way ;  and  God  repented  of  the  evil,  that  he 
had  said  that  he  would  do  unto  them;  and  he  did  it  not," 
Jonah  iii.  6 — 10. 

How  long  the  inhabitants  of  Nineveh  continued  repentant 
is  not  recorded.  It  is  probable  that  when  they  saw  the  dan- 
ger past,  they  returned  every  one  to  his  evil  ways — that  their 
goodness  vanished  as  the  morning  cloud  that  passeth  away. 
It  is  certain,  indeed,  that  the  generation  that  followed  them 
Avere  notorious  for  their  wickedness.  Hence,  the  prophet 
Nahum,  about  fourscore  years  after,  or  b.  c.  721,  was  com- 
missioned with  "  the  burden,"  or  "  doom,"  of  Nineveh. 

But  still  mercy  kept  the  sword  of  justice  sheathed  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  years  before  the  catastrophe  occurred.  Ano- 
ther prophet,  indeed,  foretold  its  doom  before  its  downfall. 
See  Zeph.  ii.  13 — 15.  But  these  warnings  were  unheeded; 
the  people  went  on  sinning  with  a  high  hand  against  the  Ma- 
jesty of  heaven.  How  great  their  iniquities  were,  may  be  in- 
ferred from  the  advice  given  by  Tobit  to  his  son  Tobias, 
shortly  before  his  death,  and  which  is  here  offered  to  the  no- 
tice of  the  reader,  as  illustrating  an  historical  fact,  and  not  as 
an  inspired  record. 

"  Go  into  Media,  my  son,  for  I  surely  believe  those  things 
which  Jonas  the  prophet  spake  of  Nineveh,  that  it  shall  be 
overthrown  ;  and  that  for  a  time  peace  shall  rather  be  in  Me- 
dia. And  now,  my  son,  depart  out  of  Nineveh,  because  that 
those  things  which  the  prophet  Jonas  spake  shall  surely  come 
to  pass,"   Tobit  xiv.  4,  8. 

The  sword  that  had  been  thus  long  hovering  over  Nine- 
veh, at  length  fell  upon  the  devoted  city.  It  was  taken  by 
the  Medes  and  Babylonians  under  Arbaces,  about  b.  c.  G06, 
in  consequence  of  the  river  demolishing  part  of  the  wall, 
where  it  is  said  to  have  been  destroyed.  Like  the  city  of 
Babylon,  however,  the  utter  ruin  of  Nineveh  was  the  work 
of  ages  and  successive  spoliators  were  engaged  in  its  demo- 
lition. And  here,  again,  it  may  be  profitable  to  trace  how 
beautifully  the  predictions  concerning  Nineveh  harmonize 
with  historical  facts,  and  the  testimony  of  travellers. 

The  prophet  says, 

"  But  with  an  overrunning  flood 
He  will  make  an  utter  end  of  the  place  thereof, 
And  darkness  shall  pursue  his  enemies.— AViA.  i.  8. 


68  HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRFANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

"  The  gates  of  the  rivers  shall  be  opened, 
And  the  palace  shall  be  dissolved. 
But  Nineveh  is  of  old  like  a  pool  of  water."- A'aA.  ii.  6.  8. 

Diodoms  Siculus  relates,  that  the  king  of  Assyria,  after  the 
discomfiture  of  his  army,  confided  in  an  ancient  prophecy, 
"that  Nineveh  should  never  be  taken  till  the  river  became  its 
enemy ;"  but  that  after  the  allied  revolters  had  besieged  the  city 
for  two  years  without  effect,  there  occurred  a  prodigious  in- 
undation of  the  Tigris,  which  inundated  part  of  the  city,  and 
threw  down  the  wall  for  the  space  of  twenty  furlongs.  The 
king  then,  he  adds,  deeming  the  prediction  accomplished, 
despaired  of  safety,  and  erecting  an  immense  funeral  pile,  on 
which  he  heaped  his  wealth,  which  with  himself,  his  house- 
hold, and  palace  were  consumed. 

The  prophet  says — 

"  For  while  they  be  folden  together  as  thorns, 
And  while  they  are  drunken  as  drunkards, 
They  shall  be  devoured  as  stubble  fully  dry." — Nah.  i.  10. 

"  Woe  to  the  bloody  city  ! 
It  is  full  of  lies  and  robbery;  the  prey  departeth  not; 
The  noise  of  a  whip,  and  the  noise  of  the  rattling  of  the  wheels, 
And  of  prancing  horses,  and  of  jumping  chariots. 
The  horseman   lifteth  up  both  the   bright  sword  and   the  glittering 

spear : 
And  there  is  a  multitude  of  slain,  and  a  great  number  of  carcases  ; 
And  there  is  none  end  of  their  corpses — they  stumble    upon   their 

corpses." — Nah.  iii.  1 — 3. 

Diodorus  Siculus  says,  the  king  of  Assyria,  elated  with  his 
former  victories  and  ignorant  of  the  revok  of  the  Bactrians, 
had  abandoned  himself  to  inaction,  had  appointed  a  time  of 
festivity,  and  supplied  his  soldiers  with-  abundance  of  wine ; 
and  that  the  general  of  the  enemy,  apprized  by  deserters  of 
their  negligence  and  drunkenness,  attacked  the  Assyrian 
army,  while  the  whole  of  them  were  fearlessly  giving  way  to 
indulgence,  destroyed  great  part  of  them,  and  drove  the  rest 
into  the  city. 

The  prophet  says — < 

"  Take  ye  the  spoil  of  silver,  take  the  spoil  of  gold  : 
For  there  is  none  end  of  the  store  and  glory 
Out  of  all  the  pleasant  furniture." — Nah.  ii.  9. 

The  historian  affirms,  that  many  talents  of  gold  and  silver, 
collected  from  the  ashes  of  the  funeral  pile  and  the  rubbish 
of  the  burned  palace  of  the  Assyrian  king,  Avere  carried  to 
Ecbatana. 


mSTORY   OF    THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  69 

The  prophet  says — 

"There  shall  the  fire  devour  thee." — Nah.  iii.  15. 

And  as  Diodorus  relates,  partly  by  water,  partly  by  fire,  it 
was  destroyed. 

As  regards  the  predictions  which  refer  to  the  utter  desola- 
tion of  Nineveh,  how  awfully  have  they  been  fulfilled ! 

The  prophet  says — 

"He  will  make  an  utter  end  of  the  place  thereof. 

What  do  ye  imagine  aqrainst  the  Lord  1 

He  will  make  an  utter  end  : 

Affliction  shall  not  rise  up  the  second  time." — Nah.  i.  8,  9. 
"  She  is  empty,  and  void,  and  waste." — Nah.  ii.  10. 
"  And  he  will  stretch  out  his  hand  against  the  north, 

And  destroy  Assyria; 

And  will  make  Nineveh  a  desolation, 

And  dry  like  a  wilderness. 

And  flocks  shall  like  down  in  the  midst  of  her, 

All  the  beasts  of  the  nations  : 

Both  the  cormorant  and  the  bittern  shall  lodge  in  the  upper  lintels 
of  it. 

Their  voice  shall  sing  in  the  windows: 

Desolation  shall  be  in  the  thresholds : 

For  he  shall  uncover  the  cedar  work. 

This  is  the  rejoicing  city  that  dwelt  carelessly, 

That  said  in  her  heart,  I  am,  and  there  is  none  beside  me  : 

How  is  she  become  a  desolation, 

A  place  for  beasts  to  lie  down  in  !" — Zcph.  ii.  13 — 15. 

In  the  second  century,  Lucian,  a  native  of  a  city  on  the. 
banks  of  the  Euphrates,  testified  that  no  vestige  of  Nineveh 
was  then  remaining,  and  that  none  could  tell  where  it  was 
once  situated.  According  to  Abulfaray,  and  the  general  tes- 
timony of  Oriental  tradition,  most  modern  writers  suppose 
Nineveh  to  have  been  situated  on  the  left,  or  east  bank  of  the 
Tigris,  opposite  Mosul,  and  partly  on  the  site  of  the  modern 
village  of  Nunia,  or  Nebbe  Yunus,  which  contains  about  300 
houses. 

The  utter  ruin  of  Nineveh  was  expressed  by  the  prophet 
Nahum,  under  this  emphatic  figure : 

"Make  thyself  many  as  the  canker  worm, 
Make  thy.self  many  as  the  locusts. 

Thou  hast  multiplied  thy  merchants  above  the  stars  of  heaven  : 
The  cankerworin  spoilcth,  and  fleeth  away. 
Thy  crowned  are  as  the  locusts. 
And  thy  captains  as  the  great  grasshoppers. 
Which  camp  in  the  hedges  in  the  cold  day, 
But  when  the  sun  ariseth  they  flee  away, 
And  their  place  is  not  known  where  they  are." — Nah.  iii.  15 — 17. 


70.  HISTORY   OF    THE    ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

The  extent  of  the  desolation  here  denounced  will  be  better 
understood  if  the  figure  is  explained.  It  is  supposed,  that  by 
the  "  great  grasshoppers"  here  mentioned,  are  to  be  understood 
locusts  before  they  are  in  a  condition  for  flight ;  and,  certainly, 
the  insect  in  this  state  of  its  existence  could  not  fail  to  have 
been  matter  of  sad  experience  to  the  Hebrews.  The  descrip- 
tion, indeed,  is  perfectly  analogous  to  the  habits  of  these  de- 
vouring insects.  The  female  lays  her  eggs  in  the  autumn, 
amounting,  some  say,  to  200  or  300,  and  she  makes  choice 
of  a  light  earth,  under  the  shelter  of  a  bush  or  hedge,  wherein 
to  deposit  them.  In  such  a  situation,  they  are  defended  from 
the  winter's  blast,  and,  having  escaped  the  rigour  of  the  cold, 
they  are  hatched  early  in  the  season  by  the  heat  of  the  sun, 
at  which  time  the  hedges  and  the  ridges  swarm  with  them. 
Their  ravages  begin  before  they  can  fly,  consuming,  even  in 
their  larva  state,  the  roots  of  herbage  which  spread  around 
them.  When  they  leave  their  native  hedges,  they  march 
along,  as  it  were,  in  battalions,  devouring  every  leaf  and  bud 
as  they  pass  ;  till,  at  length,  when  the  sun  has  waxed  warm, 
about  the  middle  of  June,  their  wings  are  developed,  and  they 
flee  away,  to  inflict  on  other  places  that  utter  desolation  to 
which  they  reduced  the  place  of  their  birth. 

This  figure,  therefore,  implies  that  the  desolation  of  Nine- 
veh should  be  so  complete,  that  its  site  would  in  future  ages 
be  uncertain  and  unknown  ;  and  that  every  vestige  of  the 
palace  of  its  monarchs,  of  the  greatness  of  its  nobles,  and  the 
wealth  of  its  merchants,  would  wholly  disappear. 

The  supposed  remains  of  ancient  Nineveh  have  been  ex- 
amined and  illustrated  by  Rich,  in  his  "  Second  Memoir 
of  the  Ruins  of  Babylon."  He  says :  "  Opposite  Mosul  is 
an  enclosure  of  a  rectangular  form,  corresponding  with  the 
cardinal  points  of  the  compass,  the  eastern  and  western  sides 
being  the  longest,  the  latter  facing  the  river.  The  area, 
which  is  now  cultivated,  and  offers  no  vestiges  of  building, 
is  too  small  to  have  contained  a  place  larger  than  Mosul, 
but  it  may  be  supposed  to  answer  to  the  palace  of  Nine- 
veh. The  boundary,  which  may  be  traced  all  round,  now 
looks  like  an  embankment  of  earth  or  rubbish  of  small  ele- 
vation, and  has  attached  to  it,  and  in  its  line,  at  several 
places,  mounds  of  greater  size  and  solidity.  The  first  of 
these  forms  the  S.  W.  angle,  and  on  it  is  built  the  village  of 
Nebbe  Yunus,  (described  and  delineated  by  Neibuhr  as  Ni- 
mia,)  where  they  show  the  tcmb  of  the  prophet  Jonah,  much 
revered  by  the  Mohammedans.     The  next,  and  largest  of  all, 


niSTOTlY   OF    THE    ASSYRIANS    AND    CHALDEANS.  71 

is  the  one  which  mny  oe  supposed  to  be  the  monument  of 
TSinus.  it  iS  .situated  near  the  centre  of  the  western  face 
ol  the  enclosure,  and  is  joined,  Hke  the  others,  by  the  boun- 
dary wall.  The  natives  call  it  '  Koyonjuk-Tepe.'  Its  form 
IS  that  of  a  truncated  pyramid,  with  reg-ular  steep  sides, 
and  a  flat  top.  It  is  composed,  as  I  ascertained  from  some 
excavations,  of  stones  and  earth,  the  latter  predominating 
sufficiently  to  admit  of  the  summit  being  cultivated  by  the 
inhabitants  ol  the  village  of  Koyonjuk,  which  is  built  on  it  at 
the  N.  E.  exiremity.  The  only  means  I  had,  at  the  time  i 
visited  it,  of  asceitaining  its  dimensions,  was  by  a  cord,  which 
1  procured  from  Mosul.  This  gave  178  feet  for  the  greatest 
height,  1,850  fset  for  the  length  of  the  summit  E.  and  W., 
and  1,147  for  jis  breadth,  N.  and  S.  Out  of  a  mound,  in  the 
north  face  of  the  boundary,  was  dug,  a  short  time  ago,  an 
immense  block  of  stone,  on  which  were  sculptured  the  figures 
of  men  and  animals.  So  remarkable  was  this  fragment  of 
antiquity,  that  even  Turkish  apathy  was  roused,  and  the  pasha, 
and  most  of  the  principal  people  in  Mosul,  came  out  to  see 
it.  One  of  the  spectators  particularly  recollected,  among  the 
sculptures  of  this  stone,  the  figure  of  a  man  on  horseback,  with 
a  long  lance  in  his  hand,  followed  by  a  great  many  others  on 
foot.  The  stone  was  afterwards  cut  into  small  pieces,  for  re- 
pairing the  buildings  of  Mosul,  and  this  inestimable  specimen 
of  the  arts  and  manners  of  the  earliest  ages  irrecoverably  lost. 
To  this  day,  stones  of  the  largest  dimensions,  which  clearly 
attest  their  high  antiquity,  are  found  in  or  near  the  foot  of  the 
mound." 

Thus  the  reader  will  perceive,  that  Nineveh  is  left  without 
any  monuments  of  royahy,  and  without  any  tokens  of  its 
splendour  or  its  wealth  ;  that  their  place  is  not  known  where 
they  were ;  that  it  is,  indeed,  a  desolation,  "  empty,  and  void, 
and  waste,"  and  an  utter  ruin,  according  to  the  Divine  pre- 
dictions. 

"  Her  walls  are  orone  ;  her  palaces  are  dust : 
The  desert  is  around  her,  and  within 
Like  shadows  have  the  mighty  passed  away  ! 
Whence,  and  how  came  the  ruin  ?     Ry  the  hand 
Of  the  oppressor  were  the  nations  bowed. 
They  rose  against  him,  and  prevailed;  for  he, 
The  haughty  monarch,  who  the  earth  could  rule, 
By  his  own  furious  passions  was  o'er-ruled. 
With  pride  his  understanding  was  made  dark. 
That  he  the  truth  knew  not ;  and  by  his  lusts, 
And  by  the  fierceness  of  his  wrath,  the  hearts 


72  HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

Of  men  he  turned  from  him.     So  to  kings 

Be  he  example,  that  the  tyrannous 

And  iron  rod  brealcs  down  at  length  the  hand 

That  wields  it  strongest ;  that  by  virtue  alone 

And  justice,  monarchs  sway  the  hearts  of  men  ; 

For  there  hath  God  implanted  love  of  these, 

And  hatred  of  oppression,  which,  unseen 

And  noiseless  though  it  work,  yet,  in  the  end, 

Even  like  the  viewless  elements  of  the  storm. 

Brooding  in  silence,  will  in  thunder  burst! 

So  let  the  nations  learn,  that  not  in  wealth, 

Nor  in  the  grosser  pleasures  of  the  sense, 

Nor  in  the  glare  of  conquest,  nor  the  pomp 

Of  vassal  kings,  and  tributary  lands. 

Do  happiness  and  lasting  power  abide ; 

That  virtue  unto  man's  best  glory  is, 

His  strength,  and  truest  wisdom  :  and  that  guilt, 

Though  for  a  season  it  the  heart  delight, 

Or  to  worst  deeds  the  bad  man  do  make  strong, 

Brings  misery  yet,  and  terror,  and  remorse ; 

And  weakness  and  destruction  in  the  end. 

So  if  the  nations  learn,  then  not  in  vain 

The  mighty  one  hath  been,  and  is  no  more!" 

Atherstone, 


RESEN. 

The  site  of  Resen  is  indicated  in  the  sacred  text  (Gen.  x. 
12)  with  more  than  ordinary  precision ;  but  we  have  no  evi- 
dence to  show  where  it  stood.  Most  writers  agree  in  stating 
that  it  was  erected  on  the  margin  of  the  Tigris,  between 
Nineveh  and  Calah  ;  and  Bochart  conjectures  it  to  be  the  La- 
rissa  of  Xenophon,  which,  according  to  that  historian,  stood 
near  the  Tigris,  and  had  been  formerly  a  great  city,  eight 
miles  in  circumference,  inhabited  by  the  Medes,  but  was,  at 
that  date,  destitute  of  inhabitants,  and  in  ruins. 

CALAH. 

The  best  authorities  concur  in  placing  Calah  on  the  Great 
Zab,  before  it  enters  the  Tigris.  From  this  city,  the  country 
on  the  north-east  of  the  Tigris,  and  south  of  the  Gordian 
mountains  of  Armenia,  was  called  Callachene,  or  Calacine. 
It  was  one  of  those  cities  founded  by  Asshur,  as  recorded 
Gen.  X.  11,  but  it  has  long  since  perished  from  off  the  earth. 
Bochart  conceives  that  this  is  the  same  city  with  Halah,  where 
the  king  of  Assyria  placed  the  captive  Israelites,  2  Kings 
xvii.  6. 


HISTORY   OF   TIIE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  73 


REHOBOTH. 

The  site  of  Rehoboth  has  been  fixed  at  many  parts  of  As- 
syria. Thus  some  place  it  below  Nineveh,  others  below 
Calah,  and  others  fix  it  on  the  western  banks  of  the  Tigris, 
opposite  Resen.  By  some,  again,  it  is  considered  to  be  the 
Oroba  of  Pliny,  while  others  translate  it  to  signify  the  streets 
of  Nineveh.  In  the  English  translation,  it  is  spoken  of  as 
one  of  the  cities  built  by  Asshur.     See  Gen.  x.  1 L 

ERECH. 

The  rabbins  say,  that  Erech,  mentioned  Gen.  x.  10,  as  one 
of  the  cities  built  by  Nimrod,  is  the  same  as  Ur,  the  seat  of 
the  nativity  of  Abraham,  and  the  death  of  Haran,  and  which 
is  to  the  present  day  denominated  by  the  Syrians,  Urhoi,  and 
by  the  Arabs,  Urfah,  or  Orfah.  But  this  is  an  unreasonable 
distance  from  Babel,  in  the  vicinity  of  which  it  was  erected  j 
and  it  would,  likewise,  give  too  great  an  extent  to  the  king- 
dom of  Nimrod.  It  is  generally  believed  to  have  been  a  city 
of  Chaldea,  from  whence  the  present  name  of  Irak  is  de- 
rived. Herodotus,  Ptolemy,  and  Ammianus  Marcellinus 
mention  cities,  the  names  of  which  are  evidently  also  formed 
from  Erech.  There  was  a  city  distinguished  as  And-Erech, 
in  Susiana,  near  some  fiery  and  bituminous  pools ;  and  there 
was  another,  denominated  Ard-Erech,  on  the  Euphrates,  be- 
low Babylon.  This  latter  city,  perhaps,  occupied  the  site  of 
the  original  Erech. 

ACCAD. 

This  city  is  considered  by  the  most  able  geographers  to  be 
the  Sittace  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  Akkerkoof  of  the  present 
time  ;  both  of  which  names  retain  some  elements  of  its  ancient 
denomination.  '  It  is  situated  about  nine  miles  west  of  the  Ti- 
gris, at  the  place  where  that  river  makes  its  nearest  approach 
to  the  Euphrates.  The  opinion  that  this  was  the  site  of  the 
original  Accad,  is  founded,  not  only  upon  the  circumstances 
of  its  situation  and  name  being  favourable  to  its  identity,  but 
also,  because  there  is  a  remarkable  monument  there,  which 
the  Arabs,  to  this  day,  call  Tel  Nemroud ;  and  the  Turks, 
Nemroud  Tepasse :  both  which  appellations  signify,  the  "  Hill 
of  Nimrod."  This  hill  is  surmounted  by  a  mass  of  building, 
which  has  the  appearance  of  a  tower,  or  an  irregular  pyra- 

VOL.    II.  7 


74  HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS. 

mid,  according  to  the  point  from  which  it  is  viewed.  It  is 
300  feet  in  circumference  at  the  bottom,  and  rises  125  or  130 
feet  above  the  inclined  elevation  on  which  it  stands.  The 
foundation  of  the  structure  is  composed  of  a  mass  of  rubbish, 
formed  by  the  decay  of  the  superstructure.  The  different 
layers  of  sun-dried  bricks,  of  which  it  is  composed,  may  be 
traced  very  distinctly  in  the  tower  itself  These  bricks  are 
cemented  together  by  lime  or  bitumen,  and  are  divided  into 
courses,  varying  from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  in  height,  and 
separated  by  layers  of  reeds,  such  as  grow  in  the  marshy 
parts  of  the  country.  These  reeds  are  in  a  state  of  wonder- 
ful preservation.  It  is  supposed,  from  the  solidity  and  lofti- 
ness of  the  pile,  as  well  as  the  difficulty  of  discovering  any 
other  use  for  it,  that  it  was  one  of  those  towers  which  were 
consecrated  by  the  ancient  heathen  to  the  worship  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  and  which  served  at  once  as  temples  and 
observatories.  Piles  of  this  nature  have  been  found  in  all 
the  primitive  cities  of  this  region :  the  Tel  Nemroud,  there- 
fore, sufficiently  indicates  the  site  of  a  primitive  town ;  and, 
consequently,  it  may  have  been  Accad, 

CALNEH, 

Both  ancient  and  modern,  European  and  Oriental  authori- 
ties, concur  in  fixing  the  site  of  this  city  at  what  was  the 
great  city  of  Ctesiphon,  upon  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river 
Tigris,  about  eighteen  miles  below  Bagdad.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river  stood  Seleucia,  which  was  built  by  the 
Greeks  for  the  express  purpose  of  draining  Babylon  of  its 
inhabitants,  and  which  was  made  the  capital  of  their  empire, 
east  of  the  Euphrates.  After  the  lapse  of  several  ages, 
Ctesiphon,  which  appears  to  have  been  in  existence  as  a  sm.all 
town,  (which  small  town  was  ancient  Calneh,  built  by  Nim- 
rod,)  began  to  assume  an  importance  as  a  rival  to  Seleucia, 
in  the  hands  of  the  Parthians,  those  inveterate  and  fierce  foes 
of  the  Greeks. 

SITTACE. 

There  is  a  diversity  of  opinion  among  authors  concerning 
the  situation  of  this  city.  By  Ptolemy  and  Pliny  it  is  placed 
at  a  great  distance  from  the  Tigris ;  but  Xenophon,  who 
traversed  the  whole  country,  and  had  himself  been  at  Sittace, 


HISTORY   OF   TILE   ASSYHIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  75 

says,  that  it  stood  only  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  that  river. 
In  the  days  of  this  historian,  it  was  a  large  and  populous  city. 

APOLLONIA. 

This  city  is  placed  by  Ptolemy  between  the  rivers  Gorgus 
and  Silk.  It  is  mentioned  by  Polybius  and  Stephanas,  who 
reckon  it  the  twentieth  town  between  Babylon  and  Susa. 

ARTEMIA. 

According  to  Strabo,  this  city  was  anciently  of  great  note, 
and  stood  about  fifty  miles  east  of  Seleucia.  It  is  noticed  by 
Tacitus,  Isidore,  Characenus,  Stephanus,  Pliny,  Ptolemy,  and 
other  Oriental  geographers.  By  Isidore  it  is  placed  on  the 
river  Silla.  Both  this  city  and  Apollonia  were,  without 
doubt,  as  their  names  indicate,  of  Greek  origin. 

ARBELA. 

The  city  of  Arbela  (now  Arbil,  or  Erbil,  a  miserable  vil- 
lage, according  to  Niebuhr's  observations)  stood  on  the  ordi- 
nary route  from  Bagdad  to  Mosul,  in  36'^  11'.  According  to 
Rennell,  it  was  forty-six  miles  from  Mosul.  It  was  situated 
between  the  Lesser  and  the  Greater  Zab,  but  nearer  the  latter, 
in  a  hilly  and  fertile  district.  The  city  was  once  in  possession 
of  an  hereditary  race  of  Mohammedan  princes,  whose  do- 
minion extended  to  Tabreez,  in  Azerdbijan,  and  it  was  then 
(about  the  fifteenth  century  of  the  Christian  era)  a  large  city, 
defended  by  a  castle,  situated  on  a  hill  of  a  conical  shape. 
Part  of  the  present  town,  which  consists  of  wretched  houses, 
built  of  sun-dried  bricks,  is  on  this  hill,  and  part  around  it. 
The  castle  has  almost  disappeared.  There  are  no  antiquities 
at  Erbil,  but  there  is  a  minareh,  belonging  to  a  mosque,  at  a 
little  distance,  which  was  erected  by  sultan  Musaffer.  This 
minareh  is  strongly  built  of  burned  bricks  and  mortar,  and 
has  two  entrances  facing  one  another,  each  leading  to  a  flight 
of  steps,  by  which  two  persons  may  ascend  the  tower  without 
seeing  ©ne  another  till  they  meet  on  the  summit. 

The  city  of  Arbela  is  famous  in  history  for  having  given 
name  to  the  last  great  battle  between  Alexander  and  Darius, 
B.  c.  331.  The  battle  was  fought  at  a  spot  called  Gaugamela, 
now  Karmelis,  a  little  place,  about  thirty-six  miles  W.  by  N. 
from  Arbela,  according  to  Niebuhr ;  but,  according  to  Arrian, 
about  sixty  miles  E.  of  Gaugamela,  on  a  stream  called  the 


76  HISTORY   OF    THE   ASSYRUNS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

Chaser,  the  Bumades,  or  Bamelas  of  Arrian.  After  the  battle, 
Alexander,  in  pursuit  of  Darius,  crossed  the  Greater  Zab, 
and  arrived  at  Arbela ;  from  which  circumstance  it  obtained 
its  celebrity. 

Besides  the  cities  enumerated  in  the  preceding  pages  as. ex- 
isting anciently  in  Assyria,  etc.,  there  were  others,  as  Charra- 
charta,  Thebura,  Arrapa,  Marde,  Bessara,  Opis,  etc.  ;  but  no- 
thing is  knowTi  concerning  them  beyond  their  names.  At  a 
later  date,  when  the  country  was  under  the  dominion  of 
foreign  rulers,  other  cities,  also,  are  mentioned  by  geographers 
and  historians,  as  Ctesiphon,  Seleucia,  etc. ;  and  these,  also, 
for  the  most  part,  are  passed  away. 

"  So  sink  the  monuments  of  ancient  might, 
So  fade  the  gauds  and  splendours  of  the  world ; 
Her  empires  brighten,  blaze,  and  fade  away, 
And  trophied  fanes,  and  adamantine  domes, 
That  threaten  an  eternity,  depart !" — R.  Montgomery. 


CHAPTER  III 


HISTORY  OF  THE  POLITY  OF  THE  ASSYRIANS. 


THE    GOVERNMENT. 

The  idea  given  of  the  government  of  the  kings  of  Nineveh 
and  Babylon  is,  that  it  was  haughty  and  despotic,  and  the 
kino-domhereditary.  The  whole  power  centered  in  the  king, 
and  life  and  death  were  at  his  command.  All  decrees  issued 
from  the  throne,  and  none  might  revoke  them.  Thus,  after 
Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abednego  had  been  delivered  from 
the  burning  fiery  furnace,  by  the  merciful  interposition  of  Di- 
vine Providence,  Nebuchadnezzar,  astonished  at  the  event,  ex- 
claimed, "  Therefore  I  make  a  decree.  That  every  people,  na- 
tion, and  language,  which  speak  any  thing  amiss  against  the 
God  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abednego,  shall  be  cut  in 
pieces,  and  their  houses  shall  be  made  a  dunghill :  because 
there  is  no  other  God  that  can  deliver  after  this  sort,"  Dan.  iii. 
29.  And  when  the  same  monarch,  troubled  by  a  dream, 
which  had  escaped  his  memory,  sought  of  his  wise  men  for  a 
revelation  and  an  interpretation  thereof,  because  they  could 
not  resolve  it,  he  showed  his  absolute  power  over  his  subjects, 
by  issuing  a  decree,  that  all  the  wise  men  of  Babylon  should 
be  slain:  "And  the  decree  went  forth  that  the  wise  men 
should  be  slain  ;  and  they  sought  Daniel  and  his  fellows  to  be 
slain,"  Dan.  ii.  13.  This  despotism  was  the  natural  result  of 
impious  arrogance.  The  monarchs  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon 
affected  even  Divine  honours,  as  will  be  seen  in  their  history, 
and  set  themselves  above  all  the  nations  and  the  gods  of  the 
nations  they  vanquished.  "  Hath  any  of  the  gods  of  the  na- 
tions," said  Sennacherib,  by  the  lips  of  the  vaunting  Rabsha- 
keh,  '••  deUvered  at  all  his  land  out  of  the  hand  of  the  king  of 
Assyria?  Where  are  the  gods  of  Hamath,  and  of  Arpad? 
where  are  the  gods  of  Sepharvaim,  Hena,  and  Ivah  ?  have 
they  delivered  Samaria  out  of  mine  hand  ?     Who  are  they 


78  HISTORY  OF   THE  ASSYFwIANS  AND   CHALDEAN'S, 

among  all  the  gods  of  the  countries,  that  have  delivered  their 
country  out  of  mine  hand,  that  the  Lord  should  deliver  Jeru- 
salem out  of  mine  hand?"  2  Kings  xviii.  33 — 35.  Enter- 
taining such  arrogant  notions  as  these,  it  is  no  wonder  that 
they  lorded  it  over  their  own  people,  and  the  nations  whom 
they  might  conquer.  Their  impious  arrogance  did  not  even 
stop  here.  Sometimes  they  required  that  none  under  heaven 
should  be  worshipped  but  themselves.  Speaking  of  Holofer- 
nes,  the  writer  of  the  book  of  Judith  says :  "  Yet  he  did  cast 
down  their  frontiers,  and  cut  down  their  groves  :  for  he  had 
decreed  to  destroy  all  the  gods  of  the  land,  that  all  nations 
should  worship  Nabuchodonosor  only,  ftnd  that  all  tongues 
and  tribes  should  call  upon  him  as  god,"  Judith  iii.  8. 

The  monarchs  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon  sometimes  even 
presumed  to  pass  sentence  upon  the  whole  world.  Of  the 
same  monarch  it  is  said :  "  So  he  called  unto  him  all  his  offi- 
cers, and  all  his  nobles,  and  communicated  with  them  his 
secret  counsel,  and  concluded  the  afflicting  of  the  whole  earth 
out  of  his  own  mouth.  Then  they  decreed  to  destroy  all 
flesh,  that  did  not  obey  the  commandment  of  his  mouth.  And 
when  he  had  ended  his  council,  Nabuchodonosor  king  of  the 
Assyrians  called  Holofernes  the  chief  captain  of  his  army, 
which  was  next  unto  him,  and  said  unto  him.  Thus  saith  the 
great  king,  the  lord  of  the  whole  earth,  Behold,  thou  shalt  go 
forth  from  my  presence,  and  take  with  thee  men  that  trust  in 
their  own  strength,  of  footmen  a  hundred  and  twenty  thou- 
sand ;  and  the  number  of  horses  with  their  riders  twelve 
thousand.  And  thou  shalt  go  against  all  the  west  country, 
because  they  disobeyed  my  commandment.  And  thou  shalt 
declare  unto  them,  that  they  prepare  for  me  earth  and  water:* 
for  I  will  go  forth  in  my  wTath  against  them,  and  will  cover 
the  whole  face  of  the  earth  with  the  feet  of  mine  army,  and  I 
will  give  them  for  a  spoil  unto  them  :  so  that  their  slain  shall 
fill  their  valleys  and  brooks,  and  their  river  shall  be  filled 
with  their  dead,  till  it  overflow :  and  I  will  lead  them  captive 
to  the  utmost  parts  of  all  the  earth.  Thou  therefore  shalt  go 
forth,  and  take  beforehand  for  me  all  their  coasts  :  and  if  they 
will  yield  themselves  unto  thee,  thou  shalt  reserve  them  for  me 
till  the  day  of  their  punishment.  But  concerning  them  that 
rebel,  let  not  thine  eye  spare  them ;  but  put  them  to  the 
slaughter,  and  spoil  them  wheresoever  thou  goest.     For  as  I 

*  This  was  after  the  manner  of  the  kings  of  Persia ;  to  whom,  accord- 
ing to  Herodotus,  earth  and  water  were  wont  to  be  given,  to  acknow- 
ledge that  they  were  lords  of  land  and  sea. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  79 

live,  and  by  the  power  of  my  kingdom,  whatsoever  I  have 
spoken,  that  will  I  do  by  mine  hand.  And  take  thou  heed 
that  thou  transgress  none  of  the  commandments  of  thy  lord, 
but  accomplish  them  fully,  as  I  have  commanded  thee,  and 
defer  not  to  do  them,"  Judith  ii.  2 — 13. 

The  happiness  or  misery  of  the  subjects  of  these  arrogant 
monarchs  wholly  depend  on  their  arbitrary  will  and  pleasure. 
The  only  doctrine  in  politics  promulgated  by  them  was  pas- 
sive obedience  and  non-resistance.  Their  right  to  rule  as 
they  pleased,  and  as  their  passions  dictated,  was  constantly 
inculcated  and  universally  believed.  It  is  no  matter  of  aston- 
ishment, therefore,  that  these  monarchs,  invested  with  such 
extraordinary  powers,  should  require  proportionate  homage, 
and  assume  correspondent  titles.  No  subject  could  approach 
their  presence  but  by  humble  prostrations,  and  none  durst  ad- 
dress them,  (no,  not  even  their  own  offspring,)  by  any  other 
title  than  that  of  Lord,  great  king,  and  king  of  kings.  Thus, 
Rabshakeh,  in  addressing  the  messengers  of  Hezekiah,  called 
Sennacherib  the  "  great  king,  the  king  of  Assyria,"  Isa.  xxxvi. 
4.  And  Daniel,  speaking  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  called  him, 
"  king  of  kings,"  Dan.  ii.  37.  In  later  ages  the  Parthian 
sovereigns  assumed  to  themselves  the  same  titles.  Vologeses, 
in  writing  to  the  emperor  Vespasian,  used  the  following  su- 
perscription :  "  Arsaces,  king  of  kings,  to  the  emperor  Fla- 
vius  Vespasian  ;"  and  he  was  answered  in  his  own  style : 
thus,  "  Flavius  Vespasian  to  Arsaces,  king  of  kings," 
Phrahates  in.,  before  this,  had  sent  ambassadors  to  Pompey,  to 
expostulate  with  him,  for  omitting  in  his  letter  to  him  the  title 
of  "  king  of  kings."  None  durst  appear  in  their  presence, 
without  prostrating  themselves  on  the  ground.  Nay,  more, 
they  were  obliged,  at  what  distance  soever  the  king  appeared, 
to  pay  him  that  adoration.  And  this  was  not  only  exacted  of 
their  own  subjects  and  vassals,  but  also  of  foreign  ministers 
and  ambassadors :  the  captain  of  the  guard  being  charged  to 
inquire  of  those  who  sought  admittance  to  the  king,  whether 
they  were  willing  to  pay  him  that  homage.  If  they  refused, 
they  were  informed,  that  the  king's  ears  were  open  only  to 
such  as  were  willing  to  gbey  the  royal  command  of  rendering 
this  homage.  Philostratus  says,  that  in  the  days  of  Apollonius, 
a  golden  statue  of  the  Parthian  king  was  exposed  to  all  who 
entered  Babylon :  and  that  only  such  who  adored  it  were  ad- 
mitted within  the  walls. 

The  kings  of  Assyria  appear  to  have  administered  their 
government  by  different  kinds  of  officers,  both  civil  and  mill- 


80  mSTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   ANLi    CITAL  DEANS. 

tary.  Strabo  divides  them  into  three  classes,  and  says  that 
they  were  chosen  from  among  the  gravest  and  noblest  per* 
sonages  in  the  empire.  The  first  of  these  had  the  charge  of 
virgins,  and  their  disposal  in  marriage ;  the  second  took  cog- 
nizance of  thefts  ;  and  the  third  of  all  other  crimes.  From 
Scripture  it  may  be  gathered,  that  the  subordinate  powers  of 
the  king  of  Assyria  were  divided  into  princes,  governors, 
captains,  judges,  treasurers,  counsellors,  sheriffs,  and  rulers  of 
provinces,  Dan.  iii.  2,  3.  So  that  it  would  appear,  nothing 
was  wanting  to  preserve  peace  and  good  order  in  the  empire  j 
and  that  the  civil  and  military  economy  was  under  severe  re- 
gulations. 

In  their  own  household,  the  monarehs  of  Assyria  had  offi- 
cers high  in  rank.  The  chief  of  these  officers  appears  to 
have  been  "the  captain  of  the  guard,"  who  had  the  execution 
of  all  hjs  master's  arbitrary  and  sanguinary  commands.  This 
appears  evident  from  Dan.  ii.  14,  15,  wherein  it  is  related 
that  Arioch,  the  captain  of  the  king's  guard,  was  commis- 
sioned to  slay  all  the  wise  men  of  Babylon.  Whenever  an 
officer  of  this  rank,  among  the  Egyptians  or  Babylonians,  is 
mentioned  in  Scripture,  he  is  called  Sar^  or  Rabhatlubbachim, 
literally,  "  chief  of  the  slaughtermen ,-"  the  same  word  being 
appKed  to  the  slaughterer  of  beasts ;  and,  hence,  it  is  equiva- 
lent to  '^ chief  of  the  executioners;"  the  body  gimrd,  under 
the  direction  of  their  chief,  being,  in  the  east,  charged  with 
the  execution  of  capital  punishments,  and  the  commander 
himself  often  putting  the  more  distinguished  offenders  to  death 
with  his  own  harxl. 

The  second  in  authority  in  the  king's  palace-  had  charge 
of  the  education  and  subsistence  of  the  youth  of  the  palace: 
"  And  the  king  spake  unto  Ashpenaz  the  master  of  his  eu- 
nuchs, that  he  should  bring  certain  of  the  children  of  Israel, 
and  of  the  king's  seed,  and  of  the  princes  ;  children  in  whom 
was  no  blemish,  but  well-favoured,  and  skilled  in  all  wisdom, 
and  cunning  in  knowledge,  and  understanding  science,  and 
such  as  had  ability  in  them  to  stand  in  the  king's  palace,  and 
whom  they  might  teach  the  learning  and  the  tongue  of  the 
Chaldeans.  And  the  king  appointed  them  a  daily  provision 
of  the  king's  meat,  and  of  the  wine  which  he  drank:  so 
nourishing  them  three  years,  that  at  the  end  thereof  they 
might  stand  before  the  king,"  Dan.  i.  3 — 5.  This  ha.s  always 
been  the  custom  in  the  eastern  countries ;  and,  at  this  day  it 
may  receive  illustration  from  the  customs  in  the  Ottoman 
court.     Rieaut.  in  his  "  State  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,"  saySj 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ASSYHUNS   AND   CHALDEANS.  81 

**  The  youths  that  are  designed  for  the  great  offices  of  the 
Turkish  empire  must  be  of  admirable  features,  and  pleasing 
looks,  well  shaped  in  their  bodies,  and  without  any  defects  of 
nature ;  for  it  is  conceived  that  a  corrupt  and  sordid  soul  can 
scarce  inhabit  in  a  serene  and  ingenuous  aspect ;  and  I  have 
observed,  not  only  in  the  seraglio,  but  also  in  the  courts  of 
great  men,  their  personal  attendants  have  been  of  comely, 
lusty  youths,  well  habited,  deporting  themselves  with  singular 
modesty  and  respect  in  the  presence  of  their  masters.  So 
that,  when  a  pasha,  aga,  or  spahee  travels,  he  is  always  at- 
tended with  a  comely  equipage,  followed  by  flourishing 
youths,  well  clothed  and  mounted,  in  great  numbers ;  that 
one  may  guess  of  the  greatness  of  this  empire,  by  the  retinue, 
pomp,  and  number  of  servants  which  accompany  persons  of 
quality  in  their  journeys." 

The  whole  of  the  account  given  of  the  arrangements  for 
the  Hebrew  youths,  together  with  the  distinction  which  Dan- 
iel, as  well  as  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abednego  ultimately 
attained,  is  not  only  instructive  as  to  the  usages  of  the  Chal- 
dean court,  but  may  be  illustrated  by  the  customs  of  Turkey, 
before  the  alterations  made  in  the  present  century.  The 
pages  and  officers  of  the  court,  as  well  as  the  greater  part  of 
the  public  functionaries  and  governors  of  provinces,  were 
originally  youths  taken  captive  in  war,  or  bought  or  stolen 
in  times  of  peace.  The  finest  and  most  able  of  these  were 
sent  to  the  palace,  and,  if  accepted,  were  placed  under  the 
charge  of  the  chief  of  the  white  eunuchs.  Those  that  were 
accepted,  were  brought  up  in  the  religion  of  their  masters  ; 
and  there  were  schools  in  the  palace,  in  which  they  received 
such  complete  instruction  in  Turkish  learning  and  science, 
as  few  others  could  obtain.  Among  the  accomplishments, 
great  pains  were  taken  to  teach  them  to  speak  the  Turkish 
language  with  the  greatest  purity.  The  youths  were  well 
clothed,  but  their  diet  was  temperate.  They  slept  in  large 
chambers,  where  there  were  rows  of  beds.  Every  one  slept 
separately  ;  and  between  every  third  or  fourth  bed  lay  a  white 
eunuch,  whose  duty  it  was  to  keep  a  watchful  eye  upon  the 
conduct  of  those  near  him,  and  report  it  to  his  superior. 
When  any  of  them  arrived  at  a  proper  age,  they  were  in- 
structed in  military  exercises,  and  great  pains  were  taken  to 
render  them  active,  robust,  and  brave.  Every  one,  also,  was 
taught  some  mechanical  or  liberal  art,  that  they  might  have 
a  resource  in  time  of  adversity.  When  their  education  was 
completed,  those  who  had  displayed  the  greatest  capacity  and 


82  HISTORY  OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS. 

valour  were  employed  about  the  person  of  the  king-,  and  the 
rest  given  to  the  service  of  the  treasury,  and  the  other  offices 
of  the  establishment  to  which  they  belonged.  The  more 
talented  were  promoted  to  the  various  high  court  offices, 
which  gave  them  access  to  the  private  apartments  of  the  serag- 
lio, so  that  they  could  converse  at  almost  any  time  with  their 
great  master.  This  advantage  paved  the  way  for  their  pro- 
motion to  the  government  of  provinces,  and  to  military  com- 
mands ;  and  it  often  happened,  that  favourite  court  officers 
were  promoted  to  the  post  of  grand  vizier,  or  chief  minister, 
and  other  high  offices  of  state,  without  having  been  previously 
pashas  or  military  commanders, 

A  third  officer  in  the  court  of  the  Assyrian  monarchs,  was 
the  prime  minister,  who  resembled  the  Turkish  vizier,  and 
who  more  immediately  represented  the  person  of  his  great 
master.  To  this  dignity  Daniel  was  promoted,  after  he  had 
revealed  and  interpreted  the  forgotten  dream  of  Nebuchadnez- 
zar. It  is  said  :  "  Then  the  king  made  Daniel  a  great  man, 
and  gave  him  many  great  gifts,  and  made  him  ruler  over  the 
whole  province  of  Babylon,  and  chief  of  the  governors  over 
all  the  wise  men  of  Babylon.  Then  Daniel  requested  of  the 
king,  and  he  set  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abednego,  over  the 
affairs  of  the  province  of  Babylon  ;  but  Daniel  sat  in  the  gate 
of  the  king,"  Dan.  ii.  48,  49.  The  object  for  which  this  offi- 
cer "  sat  in  the  gate,"  as  it  is  called,  was  to  hear  complaints, 
and  to  pass  judgments  ;  and,  therefore,  he  may  be  said  to  have 
been  the  representative  of  the  king. 

Besides  these  officers,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  master  of 
the  magicians  at  court,  whose  business  it  was  to  satisfy  the 
king  upon  any  subject  he  might  require  to  know  with  regard 
to  futurity  and  prognostications.  To  this  post,  also,  Daniel 
was  exalted.     See  Dan.  iv.  9. 

It  has  been  before  recorded,  that  none  was  allowed  the 
honour  of  serving  in  the  monarch's  presence  that  was  not  re- 
markable for  comeliness  of  person  and  excellency  of  parts. 
As  might  be  expected,  this  rule  extended  to  their  wives  and 
concubines.  Of  these  latter  there  appears  to  have  been  a  great 
number,  as  there  afterwards  was  in  the  Persian  court ;  for  it 
is  said  of  the  impious  Belshazzar,  that  he  brought  "  the  golden 
and  silver  vessels  which  his  father  Nebuchadnezzar  had  taken 
out  of  the  temple  w^hich  was  in  Jerusalem  ;  that  the  king,  and 
his  princes,  his  wives,  and  his  concubines,  might  drink  there- 
in," Dan.  V.  2. 

From  this  latter  quotation,  it  would  appear,  that  though  the 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYEIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  83 

monarchs  of  this  mighty  empire  considered  the  whole  world 
as  created  for  their  use  and  service,  they  nevertheless  mingled 
with  their  subjects  in  banqueting  and  revelling,  more  espe- 
cially with  the  lords  and  chief  men  in  their  dominion.  The 
common  style  of  addressing  them  was,  "  O  king,  live  for 
ever,"  Dan.  ii.  4;  v.  10;  and  those  who  gained  their  favour 
were  clothed  in  purple  or  scarlet,  adorned  with  chains  of  gold 
about  their  necks,  and  invested  with  some  government.  Thus 
the  guiky  Belshazzar,  smitten  with  fear  of  the  handwrking 
upon  the  wall,  asserted  to  the  wise  men,  while  yet  his  knees 
were  smiting  one  against  another :  "  Whosoever  shall  read 
this  writing,  and  show  me  the  interpretation  thereof,  shall  be 
clothed  with  scarlet,  and  have  a  chain  of  gold  about  his  neck, 
and  shall  be  the  third  ruler  in  the  kingdom,"  Dan.  v.  7. 

The  exhortation  of  the  psalmist  is  peculiarly  suitable  to  the 
circumstance  we  here  relate. 

'*'  Put  not  your  trust  in  princes, 
Nor  in  the  son  of  man,  in  whom  there  is  no  help. 
His  breath  goeth  forth,  he  returneth  to  his  earth ; 
In  that  very  day  his  thoughts  perish." — Psa.  cxlvi.  3,  4. 

Even  the  mighty  tyrants  of  Babylon  and  Nineveh  stooped  to 
the  stroke  of  the  mightier  tyrant.  Death !  and  though  they 
exalted  themselves  as  gods  on  earth,  in  the  common  course  of 
nature,  or  by  the  hand  of  violence,  they  were  eventually 
proved  to  be  mortals  ! 

According  to  Arrian,  when  the  kings  of  Assyria  died,  they 
were  buried  in  the  Lemlun  marshes  ;  and  Ainsworth  in  writ- 
ing of  these  plains,  which  the  Euphrates  expedition  explored, 
says :  "  The  easterly  extent  of  the  valley  of  the  Lemlun 
marshes  leaves  a  narrow  band  of  soil  between  the  marshes 
and  the  Tigris,  which  is  everywhere  covered,  like  the  plains 
of  Babylonia  and  of  Chaldea,  wkh  the  monuments  of  antique 
industry  and  enterprise.  Thus  the  words  of  Arrian  receive 
confirmation  from  existing  mounds  and  ruins.  This  territory, 
inhabited  by  the  Zobeid  Arabs,  contains  the  great  mounds  of 
Mizisitha,  Ithahr,  Uffrin,  Jerrah  Supli,  Nimalah,  and  many 
others  of  minor  importance,  skuated  between  the  more  mas- 
sive, lofty,  and  extended  ruins  which  belong  to  Zibliyah,  in. 
the  north,  and  to  Jayithah  Tel  Siphr,  and  Irak,  or  Erech,  on. 
the  south.  On  some  of  these  monumental  mounds,  Messrs. 
Frazer  and  Ross  found  glazed  earthen  coffins,  still  more  cor- 
roborative of  the  descriptions  of  Arrian,  who  says,  the  monu- 
ments or  tombs  of  the  kings  of  Assyria  are  said  to  be  placed 


84  History  op  tlie  Assyrians  and  citaldean?. 

among  these  marshes.  As  in  the  present  day,  the  reed  tombs 
of  a  sheik,  or  holy  man,  are  often  to  be  seen  islanded  amidst 
a  wilderness  of  water  and  of  aquatic  vegetation." 

Here,  then,  is  the  sum  of  human  greatness !  The  mighty 
of  the  earth,  ahke  with  "  the  mean  man,"  are  brought  loW; 
and  mingle  with  the  dust. 

*^'  Proud  royalty  !  how  altered  in  thy  looks  \ 
How  blank  thy  features,  and  how  wan  thy  hue  I 
Son  of  the  mornfng^ !  whifher  art  thou  gone  1 
Where  hast  thou  hid  thy  niony-spangltMi  head, 
And  the  majestic  menace  of  thine  eyes, 
Felt  from  atar'^     Pliant  and  powerless  now, 
Like  new-born  infant  hound  up  in  his  swathes  J 
Or  victim  tumbled  flat  upon  his  back, 
That  throbs  beneath  tlie  sacriflcer's  knife. 
Mute  must  thou  bear  the  strife  of  little  tongues. 
And  coward  insults  of  the  base-born  crowd^ 
That  grudge  a  privilege  thou  never  hadsT^ 
But  only  hoped  for  in  the  peaceful  grave. 
Of  being  uimwlested  and  alone. 
Arabia's  gums  and  odoriferous  drugs, 
And  honours  by  the  herald  chdy  paid, 
In  mode  and  form,  e'en  to  a  very  scruple  j 
Oh  cruel  irony  !  these  come  too  late  ; 
And  only  mock  whom  they  are  meant  to  honoan 
Surely  there's  not  a  dungeon  slave,  that's  buried 
In  the  highway,  unshrouded  and  uncolfined, 
But  lies  as  soft,  and  sleeps  as  sound  as  he. 
Sorry  pre-emmence  of  high  dpscent, 
Above  the  baser  born  to  rot  in  state."-"BLAiK. 

Who  could  look  upon  the  tombs  (j{  the  kings  of  Assyria^ 
buried  in  the  solitude  of  these  marshes,  and  thirst  for  humaa 
greatness  ?  Rather,  they  would  teach  the  beholder  its  vanity, 
and  cause  him  to  exclaim  Avith  the  psalmist, 

"  There  be  many  that  say,  Who  will  show  us  any  good  1 
Lord,  hft  thou  up  the  light  of  thy  countenance  upon  us. 

Psa.  iv.  6, 

*'  Turn  away  mine  eyes  from  beholding  vanity  ; 
And  quicken  thou  me  in  thy  way." — Psa.  cxix,  27. 

Laws. 

The  laws  of  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians,  as  may  be  in- 
ferred from  the  preceding  article,  were  vague,  and  entirely 
dependent  on  the  caprice  or  pleasure  of  their  monarchs.  Ac- 
cording to  Herodotus,  however,  there  was  one  law,  which  ap- 
t)ears  to  have  been  irrevocably  fixed.  This  law  was  calcu- 
lated to  increase  the  number  of  the  inhabitants,  by  obliging 


HISTORY   OF   TtfE   ASSntlANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  85 

all,  especially  the  meaner  classes,  to  marry.  But  though  this 
law  was  calculated  to  increase  the  poAver  of  the  empire,  it  wag, 
nevertheless,  one  of  the  most  unjust,  cruel,  and  unnatural  en- 
actments that  has  ever  been  enacted  by  an}^  state,  ancient  or 
modern  ;  for,  by  one  clause,  it  deprived  a  parent  of  exercising 
his  natural  right  of  bestowing  his  own  daughters  in  marriage. 
This  right  was  assumed  for  the  king  and  his  officers ;  and, 
as  soon  as  they  were  arrived  at  the  age  of  maturity,  they 
were  exposed  in  some  public  place  for  sale.  The  most  beau- 
tiful were  put  up  first,  and  the  highest  bidder  became  the 
purchaser,  When  all  who  had  charms  were  disposed  of,  the 
money  that  was  raised  by  this  sale  was  applied  in  behalf  of 
some  of  those  to  whom  nature  had  not  been  so  lavish  of  her 
exterior  gifts.  These  were  offered  to  such  as  would  take  the 
least  money  with  them ;  and  the  poor,  who  valued  money 
more  than  beauty,  v/ere  as  eager  in  underbidding  each  other, 
as  the  rich  w^ere  in  overbidding  for  the  beautiful.  The  re- 
sult of  this  was,  that  their  females  were  all  disposed  of  in  mar- 
riage :  the  poor,  however,  were  obliged  to  give  security,  that 
they  would  take  those  they  had  chosen,  before  they  received 
the  sum  they  agreed  to  take  with  them. 

Concerning  many  other  customs,  and  even  laws,  as  recorded 
by  Herodotus  and  Strabo,  we  forbear  to  speak,  recalling  to 
memory  the  sentiments  of  the  apostle  with  reference  to  the 
works  of  darkness  committed  by  the  heathen  world  :  "  For  it 
is  a  shame  even  to  speak  of  those  things  which  are  done  of 
them  in  secret,"  Ephes.  v.  12.  Those  which  we  have  re- 
corded, as  done  openly,  are  sufficient  to  make  the  Christian 
blush  for  the  honour  of  humanity,  and  to  call  forth  the  deep- 
est gratitude  of  Christian  parents  and  their  children,  for  their 
privileges  ;  which,  however,  are  attended  Avith  corresponding 
duties  and  responsibilities.  But  it  is  to  be  feared,  that  many 
professing  Christian  parents  neglect  their  duty  in  this  partic- 
ular. Too  many  sacrifice  the  happiness  of  their  offspring  at 
the  shrine  of  the  god  of  this  world,  Mammon !  An  old 
writer,  looking  at  this  evil  in  a  worldly  point  of  view,  and 
aiming  a  blow  at  its  root,  says,  "  There  be  two  towns  in  the 
land  of  Liege,  called  Bovins  and  Dinant,  the  inhabitants 
whereof  bear  an  almost  incredible  hatred  one  to  another  ;  and 
yet  their  children,  notwithstanding,  usually  marry  together: 
and  the  reason  is,  because  their  is  none  other  good  town  or 
wealthy  place  near  them.  Thus  parents,  for  a  little  pelf,  often 
marry  their  children  to  those  whose  persons  they  hate  ;  and 
thus,  union  betwixt  families  is  not  made  but  the  breach  rather 

VOL    II.  8 


86  HISTORY   or   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS. 

widened  the  more."  To  borrow  a  figure  from  the  same 
writer,  grace  and  goodness  should  be  the  principal  loadstone 
in  the  affections  of  those  who  unite  in  holy  matrimony ;  for 
love  which  hath  ends  will  have  an  end  ;  whereas,  that  which 
is  founded  on  true  virtue,  will  always  continue.  That  is  a 
wise  injunction  of  the  apostle,  "  Be  ye  not  unequally  yoked 
together  with  unbelievers,"  2  Cor.  vi.  14.  Neither  gold  nor 
honours  should  tempt  the  Christian  parent  to  endanger  the 
everlasting  welfare  of  the  souls  of  their  offspring  by  such  un- 
equal marriages  ;  for  the  word  of  God  repeatedly  warns  them 
against  such  connexions,  and  the  severest  judgments  follow 
them. 

PUNITIVE   LAWS. 

Like  the  general  laws,  so  were  the  punishments  among 
the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians,  vague  and  uncertain.  They 
were,  indeed,  arbitrary  and  rigorous,  in  proportion  to  the  ty- 
rant's present  rage  and  fury.  Nothing  is  recorded  of  them 
by  profane  historians ;  but  it  may  be  gathered  from  the  pro- 
phecies of  Daniel,  that  beheading,  cutting  in  pieces,  turning 
the  offender's  house  into  a  dunghill,  and  burning  in  a  fiery 
furnace,  were  sentences  ordered  by  the  kings  of  Babylon ; 
and  hence  it  may  be  inferred  that  these  were  the  usual  modes 
of  punishment.     See  Dan.  i.  10;  ii.  5 ;  iii.  19. 

MILITARY   ^0^VER. 

Little  is  known  concerning  the  military  force  of  the  empire 
of  Assyria,  except  that  it  was  very  great.  Thus  when  Sen- 
nacherib invaded  Jerusalem,  it  is  recorded  that  the  angel  of 
the  Lord  smote  in  the  Assyrian  camp  "  a  hundred  and  four 
score  and  five  thousand"  men,  Isa.  xxxvii.  36.  That  they 
were  noted  for  their  power  in  horses  and  chariots  is  plain, 
from  Isa.  v.  26 — 28,  where  the  prophet  predicts  the  execu- 
tioners of  God's  judgments  upon  his  people  in  these  emphatic 
words : — 

"  And  he  will  lifl  up  an  ensign  to  the  nations  from  far, 
And  will  hiss  unto  them  from  the  end  of  the  earth: 
And,  behold,  they  shall  come  with  speed  swiftly: 
None  shall  be  weary  nor  stumble  among  them; 
None  shall  slumber  nor  sleep  ; 
Neither  shall  the  girdle  of  their  loins  be  loosed, 
Nor  the  latchet  of  their  shoes  be  broken : 
Whose  arrows  are  sharp, 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  87 

And  all  their  bows  bent, 

Their  horses'  hoofs  shall  be  counted  like  flint, 

And  their  wheels  like  a  whirlwind," 

Here,  says  Dr.  Henderson,  the  rapidity  with  which  the 
Assyrians  advanced  is  beautifully  expressed,  by  comparing  the 
revolution  of  the  wheels  of  their  war-chariots  to  that  of  the 
sudden  whirlwind,  which  seizes  upon  all  within  its  reach,  and 
rolling  it  up  with  indescribable  velocity,  bears  it  into  the  air. 
The  allusion  to  the  hardness  of  the  hoofs  of  the  horses,  prob- 
ably arises  from  the  fact  that  the  ancients  did  not  shoe  their 
horses  by  nailing  iron-plates  to  the  bottom  of  the  hoof,  as  in 
our  own  country.  They  had,  indeed,  shoes  of  leather,  gold, 
and  silver,  but  these  enclosed  the  whole  hoof,  and  were  only 
used  on  particular  occasions.  Xenophon,  who,  in  his  Cyro- 
pcedia,  represents  the  Babylonians  in  his  day  as  supplying 
20,000  horse  and  200  chariots,  to  the  force  opposed  to  Cyrus, 
lays  much  stress  on  this  point,  observing  that  the  good  hoof 
is  hard  and  hollow,  and  when  struck  on  the  ground,  sounds 
like  a  cymbal.  Homer  continually  uses  the  epithet,  "  brazen- 
hoofed,"  to  the  horses  of  his  heroes,  which  proves  that  he  con- 
sidered hard  hoofs  to  be  requisite  in  war-horses. 

COMMERCE. 

The  trade  of  this  ancient  people  iS  no  where  described  at 
large,  but  that  it  must  have  been  considerable,  cannot  be 
doubted,  especially  when  Babylon  was  in  the  meridian  of 
her  glory.  This  mighty  city  was,  as  it  were,  situated  in  the 
midst  of  the  old  world,  and  by  the  medium  of  the  Euphrates 
and  Tigris,  had  ready  communication  with  the  western  and 
northern  parts,  as  it  had  also  with  the  eastern,  by  means  of 
the  Persian  Gulf  Babylon,  moreover,  was  not  only  the  seat 
of  a  potent  monarchy,  but  it  also  afforded  many  productions 
and  manufactures  of  its  own,  to  exchange  with  its  neighbours. 
In  Josh.  vii.  21,  a  "  goodly  Babylonish  garment,"  or,  literally, 
"  a  mantle  of  Shinar,"  of  which  Babylon  was,  in  after  ages, 
the  famous  and  dominant  capital,  is  mentioned,  which  indi- 
cates that  this  district  had  early  acquired  the  reputation  for  its 
manufactured  robes,  for  which  its  capital  was  famous  among 
the  ancients.  That  the  Babylonians  had  shipping  of  their 
own,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact,  that  the  prophet  denomi- 
nates their  city  a  "  city  of  waters  ;"  and  the  description  of  the 
fall  of  Babylon,  in  the  book  of  Revelation,  under  Avhich 
figure  the  mystical  Babylon,  Rome,  is  represented,  proves  at 


68         History  of  the  assytjans  and  chaldeans. 

once  the  mighty  riches  of  this  city  as  an  emporium,  that  the 
Babylonians  had  an  extensive  commerce,  and  that  they 
abounded  in  shipping.  "  The  merchants  of  the  earth  shall 
weep  and  mourn  over  her ;  for  no  man  buyeth  their  mer- 
chandize of  gold,  and  silver,  and  precious  stones,  and  of  pearls 
and  fine  hnen,  and  purple,  and  silk,  and  scarlet,  and  all  thyine 
wood,  and  all  manner  vessels  of  ivory,  and  all  manner 
vessels  of  most  precious  wood,  and  of  brass,  and  iron,  and 
marble,  and  cinnamon, — and  wheat,  and  beasts,  and  sheep,  and 
horses,  and  chariots,  and  slaves,  and  souls  of  men.  The  mer- 
chants of  these  things,  which  were  made  rich  by  her,  shall 
stand  afar  off  for  the  fear  of  her  torment,  weeping  and  wailing, 
and  saying,  Alas,  alas,  that  great  city,  that  was  clothed  in  fine 
linen,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  decked  with  gold,  and  pre- 
cious stones,  and  pearls!  For  in  one  hour  so  great  riches  is 
come  to  nought.  And  every  ship-master,  and  all  the  com- 
pany in  ships,  and  sailors,  and  as  many  as  trade  by  sea,  stood 
afar  off,  and  cried, — Alas,  alas  that  great  city,  wherein  were 
made  rich  all  that  had  ships  in  the  sea  by  reason  of  her  costli- 
ness! for  in  one  hour  is  she  made  desolate,"  Rev.  xviii.  11  — 19. 

THE    PRIESTLY    POWER. 

In  several  passages  of  Scripture  we  read  of  magicians,  as- 
trologers, sorcerers,  and  Chaldeans,  in  connexion  with  the 
government  of  the  Assyrian  empire.  This  refers  to  the 
priests,  who  appear  to  have  formed  the  learned  caste ;  occu- 
pying the  same  station  as  the  priests  did  in  Egypt.  It  does 
not  seem  clear,  however,  that  they  possessed  the  same  power 
in  the  councils,  or  over  the  actions  of  the  monarchs.  What 
influence  they  possessed  arose  from  their  learning.  This,  it  is 
probable,  greatly  distinguished  them  from  the  rest  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  caused  them  to  be  as  much  revered  as  the  Egyptian 
priests  were.  They  chiefly  spent  their  time  in  the  study  of 
philosophy,  and  they  were  especially  famous  in  the  art  of  as- 
trology, which  would  give  them  immense  influence  over  the 
minds  of  the  credulous  muhitude,  and  cause  them  to  be  regard- 
ed with  deference,  even  by  the  haughty  monarchs  who  ruled 
over  them.  That  they  held  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  em- 
pire appears  evident,  from  the  several  transactions  recorded 
m  the  book  of  Daniel,  and  from  the  fact  that  Isaiah  notices 
them  in  his  denunciations  of  woe  upon  that  empire. 

"  Stand  now  with  thin6  enchantments, 
And  with  the  multitude  of  thy  sorceries, 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  89 

Wherein  thou  hast,  laboured  from  thy  youth ; 

If  so  be  thou  shalt  be  able  to  profit, 

If  so  be  thou  mayest  prevail. 

Thou  art  wearied  in  the  multitude  of  thy  counsels. 

Let  now  the  astrologers,  the  stargazers, 

The  monthly  prognosticators,* 

Stand  up  and  save  thee 

From  these  things  that  shall  come  upon  theC; 

Behold,  they  shall  be  as  stubble ; 

The  fire  shall  burn  them ; 

They  shall  not  deliver  themselves  from  the  power  of  the  flame : 

There  shall  not  be  a  coal  to  warm  at, 

Nor  fire  to  sit  before  it. 

Thus  shall  they  be  unto  thee  with  whom  thou  hast  laboured, 

Even  thy  merchants,  from  thy  youth : 

They  shall  wander  every  one  to  his  quarter  ; 

None  shall  save  thee"— Isa.  xlvii.  12—15. 

Profane  history  bears  its  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  sacred 
writings.  Diodorus  says,  that  the  Chaldeans  were  greatly 
given  to  divination,  and  the  foretelling  of  future  events  ;  and 
that  they  employed  themselves,  either  by  purifications,  sacri- 
fices, or  enchantments,  in  averting  evils,  and  procuring  good 
fortune  and  success.  The  art  of  divination  was  performed 
by  the  rules  of  augury,  the  flight  of  birds,  and  the  inspection 
of  victims.  They  interpreted  dreams  and  prodigies ;  and 
the  presages  which  they  derived  from  the  inspection  of  the  en- 
trails of  sacrifices,  were  received  as  oracles  by  the  multitude. 
The  same  author  states,  that  their  knowledge  and  science  were 
traditionally  transmitted  from  father  to  son,  thus  proceeding 
on  long  established  rules,  and  that  they  held  the  world  to  be 
eternal,  having  neither  beginning  nor  end.  They  maintained 
however,  that  all  things  were  ordered,  and  that  the  beautiful 
fabric  of  the  universe  was  supported,  by  Divine  Providence, 
and  the  motions  of  the  heavens  performed  by  some  unseen 
and  overruling  power.  It  was  from  their  long  observations 
of  the  stars,  and  their  knowledge  of  their  motions,  that  they 
professed  to  foretell  future  events.  The  Sun,  Mars,  Venus,  Mer- 
cury, and  Jupiter,  they  denominated  "  interpreters,"  as  being 
principally  concerned  in  making  known  to  man  the  will  of 
the  gods.  They  maintained  that  future  events  were  fore- 
shown by  their  rising,  setting,  and  colour :  presaging  hurri- 
canes, tempestuous  rains,  droughts,  famines,  appearances  of 
comets,  eclipses,  earthquakes,  and  every  circumstance  which 

*  These  probably  were  men  who  marked  out  for  every  year  the  events 
which,  as  they  pretended,  were  to  occur  in  each  month  of  that  year,  after 
the  manner  of  our  ancient  almanack  makers.  Such  a  custom  was  both 
ancient  and  oriental. 


90  HISTORY   OF    THE    ASSYRIANS    AND    CHALDEAISb. 

was  thought  to  bode  good  or  evil  to  nations,  kings,  and  pri- 
vate individuals.  Like  modern  astrologers,  they  held  also 
that  the  planets  in  their  courses  through  the  twelve  signs,  into 
which  the  divided  they  visible  heavens,  possessed  an  influence, 
either  good  or  bad,  on  men's  nativities  ;  so  that  from  a  con- 
sideration of  their  several  natures,  and  respective  positions,  it 
might  be  known  what  should  befall  them  in  after  life. 
Several  remarkable  coincidences  are  mentioned  by  ancient 
historians  to  have  occurred  between  their  prognostications  and 
events,  but  they  partake  too  much  of  the  fabulous  to  be  ad- 
mitted into  these  pages.  They  are  as  incredible  as  the  num- 
ber of  years  during  which  the  Chaldeans  allege  that  their 
predecessors  were  devoted  to  this  study ;  for  when  Alexan- 
der was  in  Asia,  they  reckoned  up  470,000  years  since  they 
first  began  to  observe  the  motions  of  the  stars,  a  circum- 
stance which  fully  proves  their  disposition  for  the  marvel- 
lous.* 

The  immense  amount  of  mischief  which  the  study  of  this 
vain  science  gave  rise  to  cannot  be  estimated.  One  of  the 
greatest  evils  which  arose  from  it,  was  that  of  idolatry.  From 
the  motions  and  the  regularity  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  they 
inferred  that  they  were  either  intelligent  beings  of  themselves, 
or  that  they  were  each  under  the  power  of  a  presiding  intel- 
ligence. Hence  the  origin  of  Sabiism,  or  the  worship  of  the 
host  of  heaven.  Their  observations  led  them  first  to  judicial 
astrology,  and  then  to  make  images  of  those  intelligences, 
which  they  imagined  either  animated  the  celestial  orbs,  or 
guided  their  motions.  The  highest  object  of  regard  would 
be  that  most  glorious  of  all  orbs — the  sun.  Hence  it  is  sup- 
posed, that  Belus  was  the  sun  itself,  with  the  ancient  Assy- 
rians and  Babylonians  ;  or  the  Baal  Shemain,  or  Lord  of  the 

*  Dr.  Hales  seems  to  set  this  statement  in  its  proper  light.  He  says  : 
"  Cicero  represents  the  foolish  and  arrogant  pretensions  of  the  Chaldeans 
to  a  series  of  recorded  observations  of  the  stars  for  470,000  years,  in  round 
numbers.  Diodorus  is  more  particular,  and  raises  it  to  473,000  years  be- 
fore Alexander's  expedition  into  Asia.  The  correct  number  is  somewhat 
more,  473,0-10  years  ;  the  additional  forty  years  being  omitted  by  Diodorus, 
as  insignificant  in  so  great  an  amount,  upon  the  same  principle  that  even 
the  3,000  (fortunately  preserved  by  Diodorus)  were  omitted  by  Cicero. 
But  this  correct  cycle  of  473,040  years  was  evidently  formed  by  the  multi- 
plication of  two  factors  ;  the  square  of  the  Chaldean  Saros,  l8-)-l8  =  324 
years,  and  the  Nobonassarean  or  Sothiacal  period  of  1,460  years.  The 
square  of  eighteen  seems  to  have  been  employed,  in  order  to  furnish  a 
larger  period,  approximating  more  nearly  to  the  true  lunar  motions  than 
the  Saros  itself,  or  rather  its' deficient  value  eighteen  years,  neglecting  the 
eleven  days  over." 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  91 

Heavens,  with  those  nations  dweUing  in  the  vicinity  of  Pales- 
tine. If  this  supposition  be  correct,  then  the  image  of  Belus 
would  be  that  of  the  sun,  and  the  tower  of  Belus  would  he 
dedicated  to  that  luminary.  Accordingly,  we  are  told,  that 
there  was  a  sacellum,  or  small  chapel,  on  the  summit  of  the 
tower,  where  his  image  was  kept,  and  where  he  was  wor- 
shipped. 

This  form  of  worship  prevailed,  from  all  that  appears,  in 
the  days  of  Job,  whose  trials  were,  it  is  believed,  within  that 
period  in  which  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  lived.  In  refer- 
ence to  this  mode  of  worship,  the  writer  of  the  instructive 
book  of  Job  says : — 

"  If  I  beheld  the  sun  when  it  shined, 
Or  the  moon  walking  in  brightness ; 
And  my  heart  hath  been  secretly  enticed, 
Or  my  mouth  hath  kissed  my  hand  : 
This  also  were  an  iniquity  to  be  punished  by  the  judge: 
For  I  should  have  denied  the  God  that  is  above." 

Job  xxxi.  26—28. 

It  would  not  appear,  however,  that  the  Chaldeans  or  As- 
syrians bowed  down  to  the  heavenly  hosts  as  God  ;  at  least, 
in  their  first  stages  of  defection  from  their  Maker.  When 
men  first  became  idolaters,  they  had  not  forgotten  the  exist- 
ence of  God,  but  had  become  unmindful  of  his  character 
and  attributes.  They  were  aware  of  his  existence  ;  but  they 
saw  him  not  as  Adam  and  Eve  did  in  their  state  of  innocence, 
and  imagining  that  he  was  too  high  and  distant  to  concern 
himself  in  the  affairs,  or  in  the  management  of  the  world  on 
which  they  lived,  they  concluded  that  he  must  have  left  these 
small  matters  to  beings  greatly  inferior  to  himself,  bu^  higher 
than  man  in  their  nature  and  existence.  They  sought  for 
these,  and  beholding  the  sun  when  it  shined,  and  the  moon 
walking  in  brightness,  and  the  planetary  bodies  moving  un- 
erringly onward  in  their  courses,  they  believed  them  to  be 
the  regent  governors,  who  took  an  immediate  interest  in  their 
concerns,  and  turned  to  them  in  prayer.  They  esteemed 
them  as  mediators  between  God  and  them  ;  for  that  there 
was  a  necessity  for  a  mediatory  office  between  God  and  man, 
is  observed  to  have  been  a  notion  held  by  mankind  from  the 
beginning.  "  Conscious  of  their  own  meanness,  vileness, 
and  impurity,"  says  Prideaux,  "  and  unable  to  conceive  how 
it  was  possilDle  for  them  of  themselves  alone,  to  have  any  ac- 
cess to  the  all-holy,  all-glorious,  and  Supreme  Governor  of 
all  things,  they  considered  him  as  too  high  and  too  pure,  and 


92  HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS. 

themselves  as  too  low  and  polluted,  for  such  a  converse  ;  and 
therefore  concluded,  that  there  must  be  a  mediator,  by  whose 
means  only  they  could  m.ake  any  address  to  him,  and  by 
whose  intercession  alone  any  of  their  petitions  could  be  ac- 
cepted of  But  no  clear  revelation  being  then  made  of  the 
mediator,  whom  God  had  appointed,  because  as  yet  he  had 
not  been  manifested  unto  the  world,  they  took  upon  them  to 
address  themselves  unto  him  by  mediators  of  their  own 
choosing ;  and  their  notion  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  being 
that  they  were  the  tabernacles  or  habitations  of  intelligences, 
which  animated  those  orbs  in  the  same  manner  as  the  soul 
of  man  animates  his  body,  and  were  the  causes  of  all  their 
motions,  and  that  those  intelligences  were  of  a  middle  nature 
between  God  and  them ;  and,  therefore,  the  planets  being  the 
nearest  to  them  of  all  these  heavenly  bodies,  and  generally 
looked  on  to  have  the  greatest  influence  on  this  world,  they 
made  choice  of  them  in  the  first  place  for  their  mediators,  who 
were  to  mediate  for  them  with  the  Supreme  God,  and  pro- 
cure from  him  the  mercies  and  favours  which  they  prayed 
for  ;  and  accordingly  they  directed  divine  worship  to  them  as 
such ;  and  here  began  all  the  idolatry  that  hath  been  prac- 
tised in  the  world."  This  was  the  first  step  in  the  defection 
of  man  from  his  Creator.  And  now  no  longer  practically 
acknowledging  "  the  God  that  is  above,"  the  knowledge  even 
of  his  existence  faded  from  the  popular  mind.  For  though 
some  might  know,  by  reason  or  tradition,  that  there  was  one 
great  God,  they  knew  it  but  obscurely  and  erroneously,  and 
they  also  retained  the  original  error,  believing  him  to  be  too 
high  to  be  honoured  by  adoration,  or  moved  by  prayer  ;  and 
hence  Uie  most  stupid  'idolatry  usurped  the  place  of  true  re- 
ligion. 

At  first,  the  sun  and  moon  were  worshipped  by  the  Chal- 
deans in  the  open  air,  and  their  altars  blazed  high  upon  the 
mountains.  At  length,  symbolical  representations  and  statues 
were  introduced,  as  supplying  their  place  when  absent,  tem- 
ples were  erected,  gods  multiphed  ;  and  the  actual  worship  of 
the  heavenly  bodies,  from  the  one  end  of  heaven  to  the  other 
was  adopted,  as  fear,  avarice,  ambition,  or  imposture  might  dic- 
tate. Under  the  influences  of  these  causes  it  was  that  these  first 
idolaters  began  to  furnish  the  Sacella,  tabernacles  or  temples, 
with  images,  and  to  erect  the  same  under  trees,  and  upon  the 
tops  of  mountains  :  and  from  hence  it  was  that  they  assembled 
themselves  together,  to  worship  the  hosts  of  heaven,  to  hope 
for  all  good  fi-om  them,  to  dread  all  evil  as  proceeding  from 


HISTORY    OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  93 

them,  and  to  honour  and  fear  them ;  regardless  of  Him,  by  the 
word  of  whose  mouth  they  were  created. 

Such  appears  to  have  been  the  rise  and  progress  of  idolatry, 
such  the  original  doctrines  of  Sabiism,  as  fabricated  by  the 
Chaldean  priests,  adopted  by  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians, 
and  finally  by  all  the  nations  of  the  east. 

"  Oh,  that  men, 
Canst  thou  believe,  should  be  so  stupid  grown, — 
While  yet  the  patriarch  lived  who  scap'd  the  flood, 
As  to  forsake  the  living  God,  and  fall 
To  worship  their  own  work  in  wood  and  stone 
For  gods  V  Milton. 

But  the  evil  did  not  stop  here.  As  man  departed  further 
from  his  God,  he  seems  to  have  hewn  out  to  himself  idols  of 
a  more  ignoble  kind,  till  at  length  the  very  dead  were  deified. 
This,  however,  did  not  take  place  till  idolatry  had  attained  its 
height.  Josephus  says,  that  the  first  instance  of  the  kind  was 
amongst  the  Syrians  of  Damascus,  who  deified  Benhadad, 
and  Hazael,  his  successor.  Now,  Adad,  or  Hadad,  was  the 
name  of  the  sun  with  that  people,  and  Benhadad  signified  the 
"  son  of  the  sun  ;"  and  from  this  it  would  appear,  that  the  sun 
was  the  primary  object  of  their  worship,  as  it  was  with  their 
neighbours,  the  Assyrians  and  Chaldeans,  and  that  afterwards 
the°deified  Benhadad  usurped  those  honours  ;  or,  that  they 
were  given  to  him  by  his  subjects  under  the  belief  that  he  was 
amongst  them,  what  the  sun  was  amongst  the  moon  and 
stars.  In  like  manner,  it  has  been  supposed  that  Belus, 
among  the  Assyrians,  may  have  been  in  after  ages  a  deified 
hero.  This  honour  has,  indeed,  been  ascribed  to  Pul, 
the  founder  of  their  political  grandeur,  he  being,  as  will  be 
seen  in  a  future  page,  the  first  Assyrian  monarch  who  ex- 
tended his  conquests  west  of  the  Euphrates.  Nothing  is 
more  probable  than  this ;  for  it  was  finally  the  beUef  of  star 
worshippers,  that  the  souls  of  their  monarchs,  when  they 
ceased  to  animate  their  bodies,  went  to  the  sun,  or  illuminated 
some  star  in  heaven,  and  they  were  consequently  deified  upon 
this  opinion  of  their  migration.  Such  being  the  lamentable 
fact,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  this  warrior  king  under- 
went an  apotheosis,  or  had  the  same  divine  honours  paid  to 
him  in  after  ages,  that  were  in  former  days  given  to  the  orb, 
whither,  they  asserted,  he  was  ascended.  Preparatory  to  this, 
he  would  have  been  represented  as  the  delegated  god  of  Belus, 
or    the  sun  upon  earth.     Accordingly,  Herodotus  tells  us, 


94  HISTORY    OF   THE   ASSYTJAKS    AND    CHALDEANS. 

that  in  the  temple  of  Bekis,  there  were  two  gods  and  two 
altars,  both  of  gold  :  one  larger  and  one  smaller  ;  that  on  the 
lesser  altar  none  but  sucking  victims  w^ere  offered ;  and  on 
the  greater,  none  but  such  as  were  full  grown.  These  suck- 
ing victims  may  denote  that  the  sun  is  the  nourisher  of  all 
living  creatures ;  and  the  full  grown  may  signify  that,  being 
thus  perfected  by  the  nourishing  power  of  Belus,  he  com- 
mitted them  to  the  care  of  his  deified  vicegerent  on  earth. 

In  accordance  with  the  view  here  taken  of  the  religion  of 
the  Chaldean  priests,  the  author  of  the  book  of  Wisdom,  in 
speaking  of  idols,  says :  "  By  the  vain  glory  of  men  they 
entered  into  the  world. — Thus  in  process  of  time  an  ungodly 
custom  grown  strong  was  kept  as  a  law,  and  graven  images 
were  worshipped  by  the  commandments  of  kings.  Whom 
men  could  not  honour  in  presence,  because  they  dwelt  far 
off,  they  took  the  counterfeit  of  his  visage  from  far,  and  made 
an  express  image  of  a  king  whom  they  honoured,  to  the  end 
that  by  this  their  forwardness  they  might  flatter  him  that  w^as 
absent,  as  if  he  were  present,"  Wisd.  xiv.  14,  16,  17. 

This  was  certainly  the  case  with  regard  to  the  deification 
of  kings,  who  aspired,  like  the  fallen  angels,  to  be  gods. 
The  same  author  assigns  two  other  cogent  reasons  for  this 
practice,  which  must  have  powerfully  operated  with  the  for- 
mer :  "  For  a  father  afiiicted  with  untimely  mourning,  when 
he  hath  made  an  image  of  his  child  soon  taken  away,  now 
honoured  him  as  a  god,  which  was  then  a  dead  man,  and 
delivered  to  those  that  were  under  him  ceremonies  and  sacri- 
fices," ver.  15.  "Also  the  singular  diligence  of  the  artificer 
did  help  to  set  forward  the  ignorant  to  more  superstition. 
For  he,  peradventure  willing  to  please  one  in  authority, 
forced  all  his  skill  to  make  the  resemblance  of  the  best  fashion. 
And  so  the  multitude,  allured  by  the  grace  of  the  work,  took 
him  now  for  a  god,  which  a  little  before  was  but  honoured  as 
a  man.  And  this  was  an  occasion  to  deceive  the  world :  for 
men,  serving  either  calamity  or  tyranny,  did  ascribe  unto 
stones  and  stocks  the  incommunicable  name,"  ver.  18 — 21. 

From  what  has  been  said,  therefore,  it  appears  that  idolatry 
had  its  first  rise  among  the  Chaldean  priests,  and  that  the  vain 
science  of  astrology  was  its  parent.  The  evils  to  which  it 
gave  rise,  are  well  described  by  the  author  before  quoted : 
"  For  whilst  they  slew  their  children  in  sacrifices,  or  used 
secret  ceremonies,  or  made  revellings  of  strange  rites ;  they 
kept  neither  lives  nor  marriages  any  longer  undefiled :  but 
either  one  slew  another  traitorouslyj  or  grieved  him  by  adul- 


mSTORY   OF    THE    ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  95 

tery.  So  that  there  reigned  in  all  men  without  exception 
blood,  manslaughter,  theft,  and  dissimulation,  corruption,  un- 
faithfulness, tumults,  perjury,  disquieting  of  good  men,  forget- 
fulness  of  good  turns,  defiling  of  souls,  changing  of  kind,  dis- 
order in  marriages,  adultery,  and  shameless  uncleanness. 
For  the  worshiping  of  idols  not  to  be  named  is  the  beginning, 
the  cause,  and  the  end  of  all  evil,"  ver.  23,  27. 

Contrasting  such  a  state  of  things  as  this  with  those  that 
present  themselves  to  our  view,  under  the  influence  of  thp. 
Christian  religion,  how  ought  we  to  admire  and  prize  those 
doctrines  which  produce  the  good  fruits  of  holiness.  Sitting 
under  our  vine,  and  under  our  fig  trees,  we  can  live  in  peace, 
and,  walking  abroad  in  the  world,  can  adopt  the  language  of 
the  poet,  with  reference  to  the  beautiful  scenes  which  nature 
presents  to  our  view, 

"  And  snuling  say,  My  Father  made  them  all." — Cowper. 

But  our  happiness,  under  the  benign  influences  of  revealed 
religion,  does  not  stop  here.  If  we  are  Christians  indeed,  we 
are  not  only  raised  in  the  scale  of  nature,  in  a  moral  point  of 
view,  but  in  a  spiritual ;  not  only  profited  for  time,  but  for 
eternity.  Like  Enoch  of  old,  who,  by  faith,  was  translated, 
that  he  should  not  see  death,  we  can  "  walk  with  God,"  and 
stretching  our  thoughts  beyond  the  narrow  bounds  of  time, 
and  looking  up  to  heaven,  in  humble  dependence  upon  a 
crucified  Redeemer,  can  say, 

"  There  is  my  house  and  portion  fair, 

My  treasure  and  my  heart  is  there, 

And  my  abiding  home." 

For  such  as  by  faith  are  united  to  Christ,  by  whose  blood 
they  are  justified,  and  by  whose  Spirit,  through  the  means  of 
the  word,  that  immortal  seed  of  regeneration,  they  are  sancti- 
fied, are  reserved  unto  life  everlasting,  and  have  mansions 
prepared  for  them  in  the  eternal  world.  See  John  xiv.  1 — 3; 
2  Cor.  V.  1,  2. 

CASTE. 

As  the  Chaldeans  were  peculiarly  the  men  of  learning, 
and  the  priesthood  in  the  Assyrian  empire,  so  the  Baby- 
lonians, properly  so  called,  according  to  some  authors,  applied 
themselves  to  the  arts  and  sciences,  in  which  they  excelled,  as 
their  manufactures,  buildings,  etc.,  testify.    Besides  these,  there 


96  HISTORY  OF   THE    ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS, 

were  other  subordinate  sects,  but  nothing  is  known  of  their 
constitution.  Herodotus  says,  that  three  of  them  fed  upon 
nothing  but  fish,  and  therefore  infringed  a  sacred  law  among 
the  Babylonians,  who  abstained  from  such  food,  out  of  respect 
to  their  great  goddess.  As  these  tribes,  however,  lived  in  the 
fens,  where  no  corn  grew,  it  may  not,  as  Strabo  observes, 
have  been  upon  a  religious  principle,  but  out  of  necessity, 
that  they  departed  from  the  usages  of  their  countrymen. 
Strabo  relates  something  more  extraordinary  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Borsippa,  where  the  bats  being  much  larger  than  in 
other  places,  they  salted  them  for  food ;  but  whether  this 
practice  proceeded  from  want,  or  superstition,  is  not  related. 

This  is  all-  that  can  be  safely  narrated  of  the  constitution 
of  the  empire  of  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians ;  for  the 
statements  of  writers  in  general  on  this  subject,  are  so  vague 
and  uncertain,  that  there  are  no  satisfactory  data  on  which  to 
form  correct  opinions ;  and  to  record  those  which  are  palpa- 
bly fabulous,  forms  no  part  of  our  plan.  The  writer  and  the 
reader  of  ancient  history  are  constantly  reminded,  that  they 
have  no  certain  data,  excepting  as  to  what  is  derived  from,  or 
confirmed  by  the  Holy  Scriptures. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

;  THE    KINGDOM    OF    ASSYRIA. 

PART    I.— ASSYRIAN    ADMINISTRATION. 

The  Assyrian  empire  was  one  of  the  most  powerful  that 
has  ever  been  established  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  By  it, 
the  nations  around  were  long  kept  in  awe,  ruled  by  its  iron 
rod.  It  g-rew  so  mighty,  indeed,  that  its  monarchs,  eventually, 
lifted  up  with  pride,  forgot  that  they  were  mortal,  and  arro- 
gated to  themselves  divine  honours. 

Some  authors  contend  that  there  were  two  Assyrian  em- 
pires, and  that  Nimrod  founded  the  first,  which  subsisted,  in 
more  or  less  extent  and  glory,  upwards  of  1450  years.  The 
evidence,  however,  on  v/hich  this  proposition  rests,  is  very 
slender.  It  is  highly  improbable  that  empires  should  have 
been  in  existence  at  so  early  a  date  after  the  dispersion. 
Kingdoms  might,  and  were,  but  not  empires.  Besides,  Nim- 
rod was  not  an  Assyrian,  or  descendant  of  Asshur,  the  son 
of  Shem,  but  a  Hamite,  or  Cushite.  Ham,  his  grandfather, 
or,  at  least,  his  son  Mizraim,  settled  in  Egypt ;  others  of  his 
sons  in  Phenicia  and  Palestine,  and  Nimrod's  brethren  of  the 
Cushite  race  appear  to  have  settled  in  Arabia,  and  perhaps 
in  India.  Neither  the  writings  of  sacred  nor  profane  histo- 
rians relate  that  Babel  was  a  city  of  consequence,  till  it  was 
rendered  such  by  Semiramis  and  Nebuchadnezzar.  It  is  not 
probable  that  empires  should  have  been  at  that  early  age  of 
great  importance.  But  a  few  years  before,  mankind  had 
been  involved  in  one  general  destruction,  for  their  iniquities, 
eight  souls  excepted.  And  prior  to  the  date  at  which  it  is 
said  Nimrod  founded  his  empire,  the  dispersion  took  place, 
and  the  souls  then  living  were,  as  the  sacred  historian  tells 
us,  scattered  abroad  upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth.  Gen.  xi.  9. 
It  may  be  safely  asserted,  therefore,  that  this  city,  like  others 
in  the  east,  rose  gradually  to  the  enormous  magnitude  it  at- 

VOL.   II,  9  ..\^_'    _ 


98  mSTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

tained,  as  ag-es  rolled  on,  and  the  empire  of  which  it  was  the 
capital  rose  to  its  height  of  prosperity ;  just  as  the  metropolis 
of  our  own  country  has  arisen,  as  its  population,  weahh,  and 
power  increased. 

It  is  said,  Gen.  x.  11,"  Out  of  that  land  went  forth  Asshur, 
and  builded  Nineveh  ;'*  that  is,  being  driven  out  of  Shinar,  or 
Babylonia,  he  went  out  into  Assyria,  and  builded  Nineveh. 
Who,  then,  is  so  likely  to  have  founded  Nineveh  as  Asshur 
himself?  It  is  not  even  suggested  in  the  Bible,  that  Nimrod 
went  forth  into  the  land  of  Assyria,  and  buih  Nineveh ;  but 
we  read,  Isa.  xxiii.  13,  that  Asshur  founded  Babel. 

"  Behold  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans ; 
This  people  was  not, 

Till  the  Assyrian  founded  it  for  them  that  dwell  in  the  wilderness: 
They  set  up  the  towers  thereof, 
They  raised  up  the  palaces  thereof; 
And  he  brought  it  to  ruin." 

The  fair  conclusions  to  be  deduced  from  Scripture  concern- 
ing Nimrod  and  Asshur  are,  that  the  former  founded  a  small, 
but  a  short-lived  kingdom,  and  that  the  latter  founded  Nine- 
veh, which,  in  after  ages,  became  the  capital  of  the  Assyrian 
empire. 

The  chronology,  and  the  actions  of  the  ancient  Assyrian 
kings,  as  recorded  by  Ctesias,  and,  after  him,  Diodorus  Sicu- 
lus,  and  many  modern  authors,  abound  with  glaring  impro- 
babilities and  exaggerations,  such  as  have  never  been  sur- 
passed in  the  most  notorious  forgeries,  or  in  the  most  extra- 
vagant romances  of  oriental  writers.  To  have  performed 
such  actions  as  they  ascribe  to  Ninus,  who  is  represented  by 
them  as  the  founder  of  the  empire,  he  must  have  possessed 
an  empire  wider  in  extent  than  any  that  has  yet  existed,  and 
this  empire  must  have  been  started  into  being  at  once,  like 
the  goodly  globe  on  which  we  live.  Years  must  pass  away 
before  the  infant  becomes  a  man ;  and  ages  must  have  rolled 
onward,  before  an  empire  could  have  stood  forth  so  promi- 
nently, as  that  of  the  Assyrians  is  said  to  have  done  in  the 
days  of  its  founder,  Ninus.  It  is  wonderful  how  such  mon- 
strous fictions  could  pass  for  history  with  men  of  understand- 
ing as  the  Greeks  were ;  it  is  still  more  Avonderful,  that  they 
should  have  been  seriously  believed  by  some  of  the  greatest 
men  in  the  world  of  literature,  whether  of  ancient  or  modern 
times.  But  such  is  the  nature  of  man,  that,  wandering  from 
the  source  of  truth,  he  is  easily  led  astray,  easily  seduced  into 
errors.     Learning  and  talent,  then,  avails  him  but  little  ]  for 


mSTORY  OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  99 

our  judgment,  like  all  our  other  faculties,  is  warped  by  our 
forefather's  transgression — by  our  departure  from  original 
righteousness. 

Upon  the  particulars  of  such  statements  it  is  unnecessary 
to  dwell  minutely.  The  only  safe  guide  for  us  to  follow  in 
this  matter  is  the  book  of  revelation.  The  sacred  page  does 
not,  indeed,  give  us  a  definite  history  of  other  nations,  but 
introduces  them  only  so  far  as  some  historical  facts  are  con- 
nected with  the  history  of  the  Hebrew  race,  or  with  the  Jews 
considered  as  a  nation.  In  this  way  the  following  facts  are 
discovered,  which  will  throw  a  light  upon  the  pretended  an- 
tiquity of  the  Assyrian  empire,  and  prove  that  it  was  neither 
so  ancient,  nor  so  extensive,  as  Ctesias  and  his  followers  would 
have  us  believe. 

In  the  book  of  Genesis,  chap,  xiv.,  we  read  concerning 
the  nations  dwelling  on  the  east  of  the  Euphrates,  that,  short- 
ly after  Abram  migrated  to  the  land  of  Canaan,  Chedorlao- 
mer,  king  of  Elam,  Amraphel,  king  of  Shinar,  Arioch,  king 
of  Ellasar,  and  Tidal,  king  of  Gojim,  or  nations,  made  a  suc- 
cessful incursion  into  the  territory  called  Pentapolis,  or  the 
five  cities  of  the  plain,  which  were  involved  in  the  overthrow 
of  Sodom,  and  where  now  is  the  Dead  Sea.  We  read  fur- 
ther, that  the  kings  of  these  cities  served  Chedorlaomer,  and 
his  confederates,  who  carried  their  conquests  this  time  to  the 
shores  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  the  frontiers  of  Egypt,  and  re- 
turned, carrying  Lot  and  his  family  captive.  The  sacred 
narrative  goes  on  to  say,  that  Abram  discovering  the  situation 
of  his  nephew,  armed  his  servants,  318  in  number,  pursued 
Chedorlaomer,  and  his  allies,  and  defeated  them,  rescuing 
Lot,  and  recovering  the  spoils. 

From  this  may  be  gathered,  that  Elam  was  an  independ- 
ent monarchy,  and  that  Amraphel,  king  of  Shinar,  if  not 
his  vassal,  was  his  ally.  Now,  the  name  Shinar,  in  Scrip- 
ture, is  usually  applied  to  Babylonia ;  it  was,  therefore,  in 
those  early  ages,  a  distinct  kingdom  from,  and  dependent,  not 
on  Assyria,  but  Elam.  But  if  Nimrod,  Ninus,  and  Semira- 
mis,  had  founded,  and  reigned  over  so  extensive  an  empire 
as  some  have  asserted,  this  could  not  have  been  the  case ;  for 
Elam  itself,  and  the  other  nations  mentioned  in  connexion 
with  it,  must  have  been  provinces  of  that  empire. 

In  the  days  of  Abraham,  and  for  ages  after,  the  Canaanites 
were  an  independent  race,  and  from  the  expulsion  of  that 
people,  down  to  the  time  of  the  "  sweet  singer  of  Israel,"  no 
mention  is  made  of  an  Assyrian  empire.     There  is  a  pro- 


100  HISTORY  OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS. 

found  silence,  indeed,  throughout  the  whole  of  the  sacred 
narrative,  and  in  the  writings  of  the  prophets,  concerning  the 
empire  of  Assyria,  till  after  the  days  of  Amos,  about  b.  c.  793. 
It  is  true,  the  writings  of  this  prophet  state  that  "  the  people 
of  Syria  shall  go  into  captivity  unto  Kir,"  Amos  i.  5 ;  and 
that  as  God  had  brought  up  Israel  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
and  the  Philistines  from  Caphtor,  so  had  he  brought  the  Sy- 
rians from  Kir,  Amos  ix.  7 :  but  all  that  can  be  discovered 
from  this  is,  that  Kir  was  the  ancient  abode  of  the  Assyrians, 
before  they  began  to  figure  in  the  historic  page.  After  the 
days  of  Amos,  all  the  prophets  make  mention  of  Assyria  as 
a  powerful  empire,  and  we  read  first  of  a  king  of  Assyria  by 
name,  2  Kings  xv.  19 ;  and  the  parallel  passage,  1  Chron.  v. 
26,  where  it  is  recorded :  "  And  the  God  of  Israel  stirred  up 
the  spirit  of  Pul  king  of  Assyria,  and  the  spirit  of  Tiglath- 
pileser  king  of  Assyria,  and  he  carried  them  away,  even  the 
Reubenites,  and  the  Gadites,  and  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh, 
and  brought  them  unto  Halah,  and  Habor,  and  Hara,  and  to 
the  river  Gozan,  unto  this  day."  From  this  is  discerned, 
therefore,  that  Pul  was  the  first  Assyrian  king  of  any  great 
political  power,  and  that  the  Assyrian  empire  was  raised  up 
by  the  Almighty,  to  punish  the  children  of  Israel  for  their 
iniquities.  It  follows,  then,  that  the  story  told  us  of  the  re- 
mote antiquity  of  the  Assyrian  empire,  and  of  there  being 
two  empires,  is  a  fiction.  There  was  only  one,  and  that  one 
had  not  its  origin  till  about  the  days  of  Pul,  790  years  b.  c, 
who  invaded  and  rendered  tributary  the  kingdom  of  Israel 
in  the  days  of  Menahem.  This  is  all  the  information  which 
Scripture  gives  concerning  the  antiquity,  etc.,  of  the  Assyrian 
empire ;  and  this  is  all  that  can  be  safely  relied  upon  in  this 
matter.  And  why  should  it  be  thought  needful  to  carry  in- 
quiries beyond  the  bounds  where  correct  data  are  given,  and 
to  lose  time  in  discussing  what  is  confessedly  fictitious ! 

PUL. 

It  is  recorded  in  the  preceding  section,  that  Pul  is  the  first 
king  of  Assyria  mentioned  by  name  in  Scripture.  The 
Scripture  dynasty  of  Assyrian  kings,  however,  begins  with 
that  unnamed  "king  of  Nineveh,"  who  repented  at  the  pro- 
phecy of  Jonah,  about  b.  c.  821.  Dr.  Hales  thinks  it  proba- 
ble that  Pul  was  the  son  of  this  monarch.  Be  that  as  it  may, 
Pul  was  the  first  king  of  Assyria  who  began  to  interfere  in 
the  affairs  of  the  western  states.      Hitherto  the  Assyrian 


HISTORY   OP   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  101 

power  appears  to  have  lain  dormant  in  that  direction.  But 
"  God  stirred  up  the  spirit  of  Pul,"  and  he  invaded  Israel, 
B.  c.  770,  in  the  twentieth  year  of  his  reign.  The  act  is  thus 
recorded  in  Scripture :  "  And  Pul  the  king  of  Assyria  came 
against  the  land :  and  Menahem  gave  Pul  a  thousand  talents 
of  silver,  that  his  hand  might  be  with  him."  [For  Menahem 
had  usurped  the  crown  of  Israel  in  the  same  year,  and  there- 
fore needed  protection.]  "  And  Menahem  exacted  the  money 
of  Israel,  even  of  all  the  mighty  men  of  wealth,  of  each  man 
fifty  shekels  of  silver,  to  give  to  the  king  of  Assyria.  So  the 
king  of  Assyria  turned  back,  and  stayed  not  there  in  the 
land,"  2  Kings  xv.  19,  20 ;   1  Chron.  v.  26. 

It  is  considered,  by  the  best  authorities,  that  Pul  was  the 
Assyrian  Belus ;  that  he  shared  a  joint  worship  with  the  ori- 
ginal Belus,  or  the  sun ;  and  that  the  temple  of  Belus,  at 
Babylon,  was  dedicated  to  both,  Babylon  being  originally  a 
province  of  the  Assyrian  empire.  Dr.  Hales  conceives,  that 
he  was  the  second  Belus  of  the  Greeks,  Nimrod,  or  Ninus, 
being  the  first,  who  built  the  temple  of  that  name  at  Baby- 
lon ;  and,  like  the  first,  was  deified  after  his  death.  It  is  pro- 
bable, that  he  attracted  their  attention  by  his  excursions  into 
Syria  and  Palestine.     He  died  b.  c.  747. 

TIGLATH-PILESER. 

This  conqueror  seems  to  have  been  the  son  of  Pul.  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  conjectures,  and  Mr.  Hales  concurs  in  the  con- 
jecture, that  at  Pul's  death  his  dominions  were  divided  be- 
tween his  two  sons ;  when  the  sovereignty  of  Assyria  was 
given  to  the  elder,  Tiglath-pileser  ;  and  the  prefecture  of  Ba- 
bylon to  the  younger,  Nabonassar,  from  the  date  of  whose 
government  the  celebrated  era  of  that  name  took  its  rise,  b.  c. 
747.  The  celebrated  Semiramis,  says  the  latter  author,  who 
built  the  walls  of  Babylon,  according  to  Herodotus,  might 
have  been  either  the  mother  or  the  wife  of  Nabonassar. 

In  the  seventh  year  of  his  reign,  b.  c.  740,  Tiglath-pileser 
found  an  opportunity  of  interfering  in  the  disturbances  that 
broke  out  in  Syria  and  Palestine.  The  cause  of  this  inter- 
ference is  thus  narrated  by  the  sacred  historian :  "  Then  Re- 
zin  king  of  Syria  and  Pekah  son  of  Remaliah  king  of  Israel 
came  up  to  Jerusalem  to  war :  and  they  besieged  Ahaz,  but 
could  not  overcome  him.  At  that  time  Rezin  king  of  Syria 
recovered  Elath  to  Syria,  and  drave  the  Jews  from  Elath : 
and  the  Syrians  came  to  Elath,  and  dwelt  there  unto  this  day. 

9* 


102  HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

So  Ahaz  sent  messengers  to  Tiglath-pileser  king  of  Assyria, 
saying,  I  am  thy  servant  and  thy  son ;  come  up,  and  save  me 
out  of  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Syria,  and  out  of  the  hand  of 
the  king  of  Israel,  which  rise  up  against  me.  And  Ahaz 
took  the  silver  and  gold  that  was  found  in  the  house  of  the 
Lord,  and  in  the  treasures  of  the  king's  house,  and  sent  it  for 
a  present  to  the  king  of  Assyria.  And  the  king  of  Assyria 
hearkened  unto  him :  for  the  king  of  Assyria  went  up  against 
Damascus,  and  took  it,  and  carried  the  people  of  it  captive  to 
Kir,  and  slew  Rezin,"  2  Kings  xvi.  5 — 9. 
This  act  fulfilled  the  prophecies  of  Amos  : 

"  And  the  people  of  Syria  shall  go  into  captivity  unto  Kir,  saith  the  Lord." 

— Amos  i.  5. 
"Have  not  I  brought  up the  Syrians  from  Kir 7" — Amos  ix.  7. 

But  the  sacred  historian  says  of  Tiglath-pileser,  that  he 
distressed  Ahaz,  and  strengthened  him  not,  2  Chron.  xxviii. 
21.  At  this  time,  indeed,  he  carried  away  the  Transjordanite 
tribes  of  Reuben,  Gad,  and  half  Manasseh,  captives  to  Media, 
where  he  planted  them  in  Halah,  Habor,  and  on  the  river 
Gozan,  1  Chron.  v.  26 ;  and  also  the  other  half  of  Manasseh 
in  Galilee,  2  Kings  xv.  29,  which  acts  were  also  in  accord- 
ance with  the  sure  word  of  prophecy : 

"  I  hate,  I  despise  your  feast  days, 
And  I  will  not  smell  in  your  solemn  assemblies. 
Though  ye  offer  me  burnt  offerings  and  your  meat  offerings, 
I  will  not  accept  of  them : 

Neither  will  I  regard  the  peace  offerings  of  your  fat  beasts. 
Take  thou  away  from  me  the  noise  of  thy  songs ; 
For  I  will  not  hear  the  melody  of  thy  viols. 
But  let  judgment  run  down  as  waters, 
And  righteousness  as  a  mighty  stream. 
Have  ye  offered  unto  me  sacrifices  and  offerings 
In  the  wilderness  forty  years,  O  house  of  Israel  1 
But  ye  have  borne  the  tabernacle  of  your  Moloch 
And  Chiun  your  images, 

The  star  of  your  god,  which  ye  made  to  yourselves. 
Therefore  will  I  cause  you  to  go  into  captivity  beyond  Damascus." 

Amos  V.  21—27. 

Or,  as  It  is  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  : 

"  I  will  carry  you  away  beyond  Babylon." — Ads  vii.  43. 

And  again: 

"  Now  therefore  hear  thou  the  word  of  the  Lord :  Thou  sayest.  Prophesy 
not  against  Israel,  and  drop  not  thy  word  against  the  house  of  Isaac. 
Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  j 


HISTORY   OF    THE    ASSYRIANS    AND    CHALDEANS.  103 

Thy  wife  shall  be  an  harlot  in  the  city, 
And  thy  sons  and  thy  daughters  shall  fall  by  the  sword, 
And  thy  land  shall  be  divided  by  line ; 
And  thou  shalt  die  in  a  polluted  land  : 
And  Israel  shall  surely  go  into  captivity  forth  of  his  land." 

Amos  vii.  16,  17. 

Compare  also  2  Kings  xvi.  5 — 9,  and  Isa.  viii.  1 — 11. 

SHALMANESER,    OR,    SHALMAN. 

This  prince  is  simply  called  Shalman  in  Hos.  x.  1 4.  He 
was  the  successor  of  Tiglath-pileser,  and,  according  to  Dr. 
Hales,  his  reign  extended  from  726  to  714  b.  c. 

In  the  fifth  year  of  his  reign,  b.  c.  722,  the  king  of  Israel 
having  rebelled  against  him,  Shalmaneser  invaded  Israel,  and 
besieged  Samaria,  which  he  took,  b.  c.  719;  and  fulfilling 
the  prophecies  of  Amos  and  the  other  prophets,  referred  to  in 
a  previous  page,  he  transported  the  chief  of  the  people  of  the 
seven  western  tribes  beyond  Assyria,  and  planted  them  in. 
Media,  2  Kings  xvii.  5,  6,  whither  his  father  had  transplanted 
the  Transjordanite,  or  eastern  tribes.  Thus  was  completed 
the  captivity  of  the  ten  revolted  tribes,  in  the  course  of  twenty- 
one  years,  that  is,  from  740  to  719  b.  c. 

On  the  policy  of  the  Assyrian  monarchs  in  transplanting 
their  captives  thither,  Dr.  Hales  remarks :  "  The  geographi- 
cal position  of  Media  was  wisely  chosen  for  the  distribution 
of  the  great  body  of  the  captives  ;  for,  first,  it  was  so  remote, 
and  so  impeded  and  interspersed  with  great  mountains  and 
numerous  and  deep  rivers,  that  it  would  be  extremly  difficult 
for  them  to  escape  from  this  natural  prison,  and  return  to 
their  own  country.  And,  second,  they  would  also  be  opposed 
in  their  passage  through  Kir,  or  Assyria  Proper,  not  only  by 
the  native  Assyrians,  but  also  by  their  enemies,  the  Syrians, 
transplanted  there  before  them.  And,  third,  the  superior 
civilization  of  the  Israelites,  and  their  skill  in  agriculture  and 
in  the  arts,  would  tend  to  civihze  and  improve  those  wild  and 
barbarous  regions.  And,  fourth,  they  could  safely  be  allowed 
more  liberty,  and  have  their  minds  more  at  ease  than  if  they 
were  subject  to  a  more  rigorous  confinement  nearer  to  their 
native  country." 

The  causes  for  the  captivity  of  Israel  are  stated,  2  Kings 
xvii.  7 — 23,  where  the  judgments,  says  the  author  of  the 
Kings  of  Judah  and  Israel,*  are  fully  vindicated,  while  the 

♦  This  work  is  published  by  the  Religious  Tract  Society,  and  the 
reader  is  referred  to  it  as  containing  the  Jewish  history  of  this  period 


104  HISTORY  OP   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

sins  of  Israel,  and  the  extent  to  which  they  carried  their 
idolatry,  are  strikingly  delineated. 

It  may  be  mentioned,  that  the  tribe  of  Naphtali  is  said  to 
have  been  carried  away  by  Tiglath-pileser,  2  Kings  xv.  29. 
In  the  book  of  Tobit,  however,  the  writer  who  was  of  that 
tribe,  ascribes  his  captivity  to  Enemessar,  or  Shalmaneser. 
See  Tobit  i.  1,2. 

Besides  the  final  subversion  of  the  kmgdom  of  Israel  by 
this  prince,  Josephus  preserves  a  passage  from  the  archives 
of  Tyre,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  Assyrian  king  over- 
run Phenicia  also,  and  received  the  submission  of  the  whole 
country  except  Tyre.  The  elder  Tyre,  (Palre-tyrus,)  Sidon, 
Acre,  and  other  towns,  seem  to  have  been  glad  of  the  opportu- 
nity of  exchanging  the  yoke  of  their  neighbour  for  that  of  a 
foreign  power ;  for  they  assisted  the  Assyrians  with  a  fleet  of 
sixty  ships,  which  the  Tyrians  defeated  with  only  twelve 
ships.  Upon  this,  Shalmaneser  advanced  to  Tyre,  and  kept 
it  in  a  state  of  blockade  for  five  years,  when  his  death  occa- 
sioned the  undertaking  to  be  discontinued.  He  was  succeed ed 
in  his  kingdom  by 


whose  reign,  according  to  Hales,  extended  from  714  to  710 
B.  c.  As  soon  as  this  prince  Avas  settled  on  the  throne,  he 
renewed  a  demand  which  had  been  exacted  by  his  father 
from  Hezekiah,  king  of  Judah,  and  upon  his  refusal  to  com- 
ply, he  declared  war  against  him,  and  invaded  Judah  with  a 
mighty  army.  Hezekiah  acknowledged  his  ofl^ence.  and 
oflTered  to  submit  to  any  tribute  the  king  should  impose  upon 
him.  Accordingly,  he  paid  the  stipulated  sum  of  300  talents 
of  silver,  and  thirty  talents  of  gold,  (in  the  whole  amounting 
to  285,812/.  sterling,)  to  raise  which,  he  exhausted  the  royal 
and  sacred  treasuries,  and  stripped  off  the  gold  with  which  the 
doors  and  pillars  of  the  temple  were  overlaid,  which,  to  this 
pious  king,  must  have  been  a  grievious  necessity  indeed, 
2  Kings  xviii.  13—16. 

The  Assyrian  monarch,  however,  regarding  neither  the 
sanctity  of  oaths  nor  treaties,  still  pushed  on  his  conquests. 
Nothing  was  able  to  withstand  his  power,  and  Jerusalem  was 
reduced  to  the  utmost  extremity.  While  he  himself  was 
ravaging  the  whole  country,  and  reducing  the  important 
frontier  towns  toward  Egypt,  (which  he  determined  to  invade, 
because  So,  king  of  Egypt,  had  encouraged  Hoshea  to  revolt. 


HISTORY   OF    THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS.  105 

with  promises  of  assistance  he  did  not  perform,  and  now, 
perhaps,  renewed  to  Hezekiuh,  as  may  be  gathered  from 
2  Kings  xviii.  21,)  he  sent  three  of  his  generals,  Tartan,  Rab- 
saris,  and  Rabshakeh,  with  a  great  host,  to  besiege  Jerusalem, 
and  to  summon  Hezekiah  to  surrender.  They  came  to  the 
very  walls,  and  there  not  only  ridiculed  his  expectations 
from  Egypt,  but  his  faith  in  Jehovah.  They  also  exhorted 
the  people  to  desert  their  prince,  and  promised  them  plenty 
and  security,  under  the  rule  of  their  master ;  and  threatened 
utter  destruction  unless  they  submitted  to  his  yoke,  2  Kings 
xviii.  17—35. 

At  this  message  from  the  Assyrian  monarch,  Hezekiah 
was  deeply  distressed.  He  saw  that  the  situation  of  himself 
and  people  was  a  very  critical  one,  and  that  nothing  but  a 
display  of  Divine  power,  manifested  on  behalf  of  Jerusalem, 
could  save  them.  With  outward  tokens,  therefore  of  humilia- 
tion, and  deep  emotions  of  godly  sorrow,  he  repaired  to  the 
temple,  accompanied  by  his  nobles,  to  seek  that  aid.  From 
hence  he  sent  to  solicit  the  intercession  of  the  prophet  Isaiah 
on  their  behalf  and  received  an  immediate  reply,  that  Senna- 
cherib should  be  constrained  to  depart  from  them,  and  should 
die  by  the  sword,  2  Kings  xix.  1 — 7  ;  Isa.  xxxviii.  1 — 7. 

At  this  critical  juncture,  Hezekiah  fell  sick  of  the  plague. 
He  was  brought  to  the  brink  of  the  grave,  and  a  message 
from  God  bade  him  prepare  to  leave  the  world.  In  this  dis- 
tress, Hezekiah  again  resorted  to  prayer,  and  received  in  an- 
swer, a  declaration,  that  on  the  third  day  he  should  be  per- 
fectly restored,  and  that  fifteen  years  should  be  added  to  his 
life.  For  the  confirmation  of  his  faith,  the  shadow  of  the  sun 
was  carried  back  ten  degrees  ;  that  is,  the  light  was  protracted 
in  a  miraculous  manner,  in  token  of  his  recovery,  2  Kings 
XX.  I — II  :   Isa.  xxxviii. 

Shortly  after  this  event,  as  we  are  told  by  Herodotus,  the 
king  of  Assyria  invaded  Egypt,  but  without  success.  [See 
the  History  of  the  Egyptians,  page  137.]  His  account,  how- 
ever, is  evidently  a  caricature  of  the  miraculous  deliverance 
promised  to  Hezekiah,  for  the  blasphemies  of  the  Assyrians. 
"  Behold,  I  will  send  a  blast  upon  him,  and  he  shall  hear  a 
rumour,  and  shall  return  to  his  own  land  ;  and  I  will  cause 
him  to  fall  by  the  sword  in  his  own  land,"  2  Kings  xix.  7. 
See  also  Isa.  xxxi.  8,  9. 

The  rumour  which  Sennacherib  heard,  was,  that  Tirhakah, 
king  of  Cush,  or  Arabian  Ethiopia,  was  come  out  to  fight 
against  him  on  his  passage  homewards,  2  Kings  xix.  9. 


106  mSTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

Sennacherib  was  resolved  to  meet  Tirhakah,  and,  through 
the  medium  of  Rabshakeh,  he  sent  a  boasting  letter  to  Heze- 
kiah,  defying  the  God  of  Israel,  and  threatening  Jerusalem 
with  eventual  destruction,  although  he  was  now  compelled  to 
break  up  the  siege. 

The  conduct  of  Hezekiah,  when  he  received  this  letter,  is 
very  pleasing ;  and  it  would  be  well  for  Christians  to  follow 
his  example  in  the  hour  of  distress.  He  hastened  to  the 
throne  of  grace ;  he  spread  its  contents  before  the  Lord,  and 
ardently  besought  him  to  interpose,  for  his  own  name's  sake. 
His  prayer  prevailed.  The  prophet  was  again  commissioned 
to  confirm  the  promise,  and  to  assure  him  of  speedy  relief. 
On  that  night,  the  promise  was  fulfilled.  As  they  lay  slum- 
bering in  their  tents,  and  probably  dreaming  of  victory  and 
revenge,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  smote  in  the  camp  of  the 
Assyrians,  a  hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand  men,  2  Kings 
xix.  35. 

Sennacherib  now  returned  to  Nineveh,  where,  being  exas- 
perated by  his  defeat,  he  inflicted  many  cruelties  upon  his 
subjects,  and  especially  upon  the  captive  Israelites.  The 
author  of  the  book  of  To  bit  thus  speaks  of  these  cruelties : 
"  And  if  the  king  Sennacherib  had  slain  any,  when  he  was 
come,  and  fled  from  Judea,  I  buried  them  privily ;  for  in  his 
wrath  he  killed  many;  but  the  bodies  were  not  found,  when 
they  were  sought  for  of  the  king.  And  when  one  of  the 
Ninevites  went  and  complained  of  me  to  the  king,  that  I 
buried  them,  and  hid  myself;  understanding  that  I  was  sought 
for  to  be  put  to  death,  I  withdrew  myself  for  fear.  Then  all 
my  goods  were  forcibly  taken  away,  neither  was  there  any 
thing  left  me,  beside  my  wife  Anna  and  my  son  Tobias," 
Tobit  i.  18—20. 

The  cruelties  of  Sennacherib  were  not,  however,  long  con- 
tinued. As  he  was  worshipping  in  the  house  of  Nisroch,  his 
god,  (signifying  "  king  of  flight,"  and  corresponding  to  Jove, 
the  "  god  of  flight,"  among  the  Greeks.)  he  was  assassinated 
by  two  of  his  sons;  who,  after  committing  the  sanguinary 
deed,  escaped  into  the  land  of  Armenia ;  while  a  third  son, 
Esarhaddon,  reigned  in  his  stead. 

The  death  of  Sennacherib  is  alluded  to,  Isa.  xxxi.  8,  where 
it  is  said, 

"  Then  shall  the  Assyrian  fall  with  the  sword,  not  of  a  mighty  man  ; 
And  the  sword,  not  of  a  man,  shall  devour  him." 

At  this  juncture,  when  the  Assyrians  were  weakened  by  so 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CIIALBEANS.  107 

great  a  blow,  the  Babylonians  and  the  Medes  revolted.  Mero- 
dach-baladan  reigned  over  Babylon  ;  and,  soon  after  his  ac- 
cession, he  sent  letters  and  a  present  to  Hezekiah,  to  congrat- 
ulate him  on  his  recovery.  Hezekiah  was  flattered  by  this 
embassy ;  and  in  the  pride  of  his  heart  he  made  a  vain  dis- 
play of  his  grandeur,  and  exhibited  to  the  wondering  am- 
bassadors his  palaces  and  treasures.  For  this  vanity,  Isaiah 
was  commissioned  to  reprove  him,  and  to  denounce  a  woe 
upon  him  and  his  people.  The  very  men  to  whom  he  had 
paid  his  court  were  to  seize  upon  the  treasures  he  had  ex- 
hibited, and  to  reduce  his  descendants  to  the  most  abject  bond- 
age, 2  Kings  XX.  12 — 19. 

ESARHADDON. 

This  king  is  the  "  great  and  noble  Asnapper"  of  Ezra  iv. 
10;  the  Sargon  of  Isa.  xx.  1 ;  the  Sarchedonus  of  Tobit  i.  21; 
and  the  Asaradin  of  Ptolemy.  His  reign  commenced,  accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Hales,  b.  c.  710. 

Esarhaddon  came  to  his  throne  at  a  season  of  general  re- 
bellion and  revok  of  the  provinces  of  Assyria.  The  Medes 
led  the  way,  and,  after  a  severe  battle,  regained  their  liberty, 
and  retained  their  independence.  They  were  followed  by 
the  Babylonians,  Armenians,  and  others.  From  this  cause, 
Esarhaddon  had  full  employment  on  his  hands  for  many 
years.  At  length,  however,  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  his  reign, 
or  B.  c.  680,  he  recovered  Babylon,  and  annexed  it  to  his  for- 
mer dominions.* 

As  soon  as  he  had  re-established  his  dominion,  and  con- 
firmed his  authority  at  home,  Esarhaddon  undertook  an  ex- 
pedition against  the  states  of  Phenicia,  Palestine,  Egypt,  and 
Ethiopia,  to  avenge  his  father's  defeat,  and  to  recover  the  re- 
voked provinces  on  the  western  side  of  the  Euphrates.  For 
three  years  he  ravaged  those  countries,  and  brought  away 
many  captives  ;  fulfiUing  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  which  says, 
*'  Like  as  my  servant  Isaiah  hath  walked  naked  and  barefoot, 

*  The  government  of  Babylon  seems  to  have  fallen  into  great  disorder 
and  confusion  after  Merodach-baladan ;  at  least,  if  vfe  may  judge  from 
the  recurrence  of  five  reigns  and  two  interregnums  often  years,  all  in  the 
course  of  twenty-nine  years,  preceding  its  reduction  again  under  the  As- 
syrian yoke.  We  are  unacquainted  with  the  story  of  these  kings  of  Ba- 
bylon; for  their  names,  and  that  of  others,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
table  given  at  the  conclusion  of  this  history,  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Hales, 
who  framed  it  from  a  careful  comparison  of  Scripture  with  Ptolemy's 
Canon  of  the  reigns  of  the  contemporary  kings  of  Babylon. 


108  HISTORY  OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CllALDKMiS. 

three  years  for  a  sign  and  wonder  upon  Egypt  and  upon 
Ethiopia  ;  so  shall  the  king  of  Assyria  lead  away  the  Egyp- 
tians prisoners,  and  the  Ethiopians  captives,  young  and  old, 
naked  and  barefoot,  even  with  their  buttocks  uncovered,  to  the 
shame  of  Egypt,"  Isa.  xx.  3,  4. 

That  the  country  of  Palestine  might  not  become  a  desert, 
he  sent  colonies  of  idolatrous  people,  taken  out  of  the  coun- 
tries beyond  the  Euphrates,  to  dwell  in  the  cities  of  Samaria  ; 
thereby  fulfilhng  another  prophecy :  "  And  within  three-score 
and  five  years  shall  Ephraim  be  broken,  that  it  be  not  a  peo- 
ple," Isa.  vii.  8. 

This  was  the  precise  space  of  time  which  elapsed  between 
the  prediction  and  the  event :  and  the  people  of  Israel  did  then, 
B.  c.  675,  truly  cease  to  be  a  visible  nation  ;  the  remnant  being- 
mixed  and  confounded  with  other  nations. 

About  two  years  after,  Esarhaddon  invaded  and  ravaged 
Judea ;  and  the  captains  of  his  host  took  Manasseh  the  kino- 
alive,  and  bound  him  with  fetters,  and  carried  him  away  cap- 
tive, with  many  of  the  nobles  and  people,  to  Babylon.  2 
Chron.  x.Kxiii.  II.  Manasseh,  however,  having  afterwards 
been  brought  to  a  sincere  and  lively  repentance,  obtained  his 
liberty,  and  returned  to  Jerusalem. 

This  is  a  lively  instance  of  the  grace  of  God,  and  true  re- 
pentance. Reader,  let  it  not  pass  by  unimproved.  We  all 
need  repentance,  for  "all  have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the 
glory  of  God ;"  all  have  provoked  his  just  wrath  and  indig- 
nation. How  comforting,  then,  is  the  example  before  us.  that 
God  is  merciful !  and  still  more  comforting  is  the  assurance 
of  the  apostle,  that,  "  If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful 
and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  un- 
righteousness," 1  John  i.  9.  Like  Manasseh,  then,  return  to 
the  Lord,  and  that  without  delay  ;  for, 

"  By  nature's  law,  what  may  be,  may  be  now; 
There's  no  prerogative  in  human  hours : 
In  human  hearts  what  bolder  thoughts  can  rise, 
Than  man's  presuinpUon  on  to-morrow's  dawn  1 
Where  is  to-morrow  1  in  another  world. 
For  numbers,  this  is  certain  ;  the  reverse 
Is  sure  to  noye  ;  and  yet  on  this,  perhaps, 
This  peradventure,  infamous  for  lies, 
As  on  a  rock  of  adamant,  we  build 
Our  mountain  hopes ;  s{)in  out  eternal  schemes, 
And,  big  with  life's  futurities,  expire." — Young. 

Our  hopes  should  be  fixed  on  Christ ;  for  "  Him  hath  God 
exalted  with  his  right  hand  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  for 


HISTORY   OF   THE    ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS,  109 

to  give  repentance  to  Israel,  and  forgiveness  of  sins,"  Acts  v. 
31.  In  him  alone  our  help  is  found  ;  and  whoever  neglects 
to  flee  to  him,  neglects  his  best  interests  for  time  and  for 
eternity. 

Esarhaddon  was  a  great  and  prosperous  prince.  He  ap- 
pears not  only  to  have  recovered  all  the  revolted  provinces  of 
Assyria,  except  Media,  but  to  have  added  thereto  Babylonia, 
Mesopotamia,  Cilicia,  Syria,  Phenicia,  Judea,  Persia,  Arabia, 
and  Egypt,  unto  the  borders  of  Ethiopia,  or  Abyssinia  ;  such 
at  least,  were  possessed  by  his  grandson  Nabuchodonosor,  as 
may  be  gathered  from  Judith  i.  6 — 10. 

Esarhaddon  is  ranked  by  Ptolemy,  in  his  Canon,  among 
the  Babylonian  kings,  probably  because  he  made  it  his  chief 
residence  during  the  last  thirteen  years  of  his  reign,  which 
he  did,  by  way  of  preventing  another  defection.  By  Diodo- 
rus  and  Justin  he  is  called  Sardanapalus  ;  and  they  confound 
him  with  the  last  king,  Sarac,  who  perished  in  the  overthrow 
of  Nineveh,  about  b.  c.  606 ;  which,  Dr.  Hales  says,  is  the 
grand  error  which  has  chiefly  perplexed  and  embarrassed  the 
Assyrian  chronology,  and  given  rise  to  the  supposed  double 
capture  of  Nineveh.  This  learned  writer  proves  the  position 
he  here  takes,  thus : 

1.  "  Athenceus  relates,  from  Clitarchus,  that  Sardanapalus 
died  of  old  age,  after  he  had  lost  the  Syrian  or  Assyrian  em- 
pire." He  lost  the  empire,  as  recorded,  in  his  youth,  but 
he  recovered  it  in  his  age. 

2.  His  statue  was  erected  at  Anchiale,  in  Cilicia,  with  this 
inscription  :  "  Sardanapalus,  the  son  of  Anacyndaraxes  [Sen- 
nacherib,] buik  Anchiale,  in  Tarsus,  in  one  day.  Stranger, 
eat,  drink,  and  play ;  for  all  other  human  concerns  are  not 
worth  this ;"  which  word  this  referred  to  a  fillip,  which  the 
statue  was  in  the  attitude  of  giving  with  his  fingers.  To  this 
inscription  the  apostle  evidently  alluded,  when,  writing  to  the 
Corinthians,  he  said,  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink  ;  for  to-morrow 
we  die :"  and  to  which  he  replied,  in  the  following  iambic 
of  Menander,  "  Evil  communications  corrupt  good  manners," 
1  Cor.  XV.  32,  33.  Thus  intimating,  from  a  better  heathen 
authority,  that  the  conversation  of  such  sensualists  as  scoff'  at 
the  hope  of  another  life,  is  subversive  not  only  of  religion, 
but  of  sound  morality. 

3.  Herodotus,  also,  so  well  skilled  in  Assyrian  affairs,  re- 
cords the  following  curious  incident :  "  Some  robbers,  who 
were  solicitous  to  get  possession  of  the  immense  treasures  of 
Sardanapalus,   king  of  Nineveh,  which  were  deposited  in 

VOL.   u.  10 


110  HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  ''^^ 

subterraneous  apartments,  began,  from  the  place  where  they 
lived,  to  dig  under  ground,  in  a  direction  towards  them. 
Having  taken  the  most  accurate  measurement,  they  continued 
their  mine  to  the  palace  of  the  king :  as  night  approached, 
they  regularly  emptied  the  earth  into  the  Tigris,  which  flows 
near  Nineveh,  and  at  length  accomphshed  their  purpose." 
This  would  demonstrate,  that  the  second  Sardanapalus  could 
not  be  meant ;  for  he  perished  with  his  treasures. 

NINUS. 

According  to  Syncellus,  a  prince  of  the  name  of  Ninus 
succeeded  Sardanapalus  at  Nineveh;  and  we  learn  from 
Ptolemy,  that  Saosduchin,  who  was  either  his  son  or  his  de- 
puty, succeeded  him  also  at  Babylon.  According  to  Dr. 
Hales,  they  began  their  reign  b.  c.  667.  Nothing  is  known 
conceaning  this  Ninus :  he  was  succeeded  in  his  empire  by 

NABUCHODONOSOR, 

or  Saosduchin,  whose  accession  is  dated  b.  c.  658. 

In  the  twelfth  year  of  the  reign  of  Nabuchodonosor,  he 
declared  war  against  Arphaxad,  or  Phraortes,  king  of  the 
Medes,  and  he  summoned  all  the  states  of  his  mighty  empire 
to  his  aid.  The  western  and  southern  provinces  of  Cilicia, 
Phenicia,  Judea,  Moab,  Ammon,  and  Egypt,  refused  to  obey 
the  summons,  and  to  furnish  him  with  troops,  and  they  even 
insulted  and  ill-treated  his  ambassadors.  This  caused  a  delay 
of  five  years  in  his  projected  invasion  of  Media,  at  the  end 
of  which  time,  b.  c.  641,  he  took  the  field,  when  he  defeated 
the  Median  army  near  Ragau,  or  Rages,  took  Arphaxad  pri- 
soner, and  slew  him  the  same  day.  After  this,  he  stormed 
Ecbatana,  his  capital,  demolished  its  towers,  and  ravaged  its 
palaces,  and  then  returned  to  Nineveh,  where  he  feasted  his 
troops  for  four  months. 

Flushed  with  this  victory,  in  the  ensuing  spring,  b.  c.  640, 
Nabuchodonosor  sent  Holofernes  with  an  army  of  120,000 
foot,  and  12,000  horse,  to  chastise  the  states  that  had  refused 
their  assistance  in  the  Median  war.  The  commands  which 
Holofernes  received  were  of  the  most  rigorous  nature ;  and, 
acting  upon  them,  he  proved  himself  a  cruel  conqueror.  He 
ravaged  and  reduced  Cilicia  and  Syria,  and  part  of  Arabia, 
Ammon,  and  Edom ;  destroying  with  a  high  hand  the  fair 
fruits  of  the  earth,  and  smiting  the  inhabitants  with  the  edge 
of  the  sword. 


HISTORY   OF   THE    ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  Ill 

These  severe  measures  awed  the  inhabitants  of  Tyre  and 
Sidon,  and  of  all  the  sea-coast  unto  Azotus  and  Askelon.  In 
the  spirit  of  fear,  therefore,  they  sent  ambassadors  to  Holo- 
fernes,  to  solicit  peace,  Holofernes  granted  it ;  but  he  put 
garrisons  into  their  towns,  and  obliged  them  to  furnish  recruits 
for  his  army.  He  also  destroyed  the  barriers  on  their  fron- 
tiers, and  cut  down  their  sacred  groves  ;  and  he  destroyed 
"  all  the  gods  of  the  land,  that  all  nations  should  worship  Na- 
buchodonosor  only,  and  that  all  tongues  and  tribes  should 
call  upon  him  as  god,"  Judith  iii.  8. 

The  little  state  of  Judea,  it  would  appear,  still  preserved  its 
independence.  Accordingly,  after  Holofernes  had  spent  a 
full  month  in  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  on  its  confines,  waiting 
to  collect  the  carriages  of  his  army,  he  encamped  in  the  valley 
over  against  Bethulia,  the  key  to  the  hill  country  of  Judea, 
with  an  army  increased  to  170,000  foot,  resolving  to  reduce 
it  to  the  allegiance  of  Nabuchodonosor. 

The  particulars  of  the  seige  of  Bethuliah,  and  its  final  de- 
liverance by  the  heroine  Judith,  with  the  death  of  Holofernes, 
and  defeat  of  his  hosts,  are  recorded  in  the  book  that  bears 
her  name ;  but  as  that  book  is  of  somewhat  doubtful  authority, 
the  details  are  here  passed  over. 

Nabuchodonosor  died  about  four  years  after,  or  b.  c.  636  ; 
and  he  was  succeeded  by  the  last  king  of  Nineveh, 


This  prince  ascended  the  throne  at  a  time  when  revolt  and 
rebellion  raged  throughout  the  empire.  The  Medes  once 
more  took  up  arms,  and  they  soon  regained  Ecbatana,  and 
the  territory  they  had  lost.  Nor  did  they  stop  here.  Revenge, 
that  evil  composition  of  pride  and  cruelty,  inflamed  the  war- 
like Cyaxares  their  king,  and  he  attacked  and  defeated  the 
Assyrians,  and  beseiged  Nineveh. 

His  first  attempts,  however,  proved  abortive.  He  was 
himself  attacked  and  defeated  by  a  powerful  Sc}i;hian  army, 
who  possessed  themselves  of  Upper  Asia,  and  ruled  with 
great  rigour  for  twenty-eight  years.  At  the  end  of  this  time, 
B.  c.  61 2,  Cyaxares  massacred  their  chieftains  at  a  banquet, 
and  shook  ofT  their  yoke. 

The  design  which  Cyaxares  had  formed,  of  reducing 
Nineveh,  was  now  renewed.  He  formed  an  alliance  with 
Nabopolassar,  king  of  Babylon,  Avho,  taking  advantage  of  the 
disaster  of  Holofernes,  had  also  recovered  his  independence  j 


112  mSTORY   OF   THE    ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

* 

and  a  marriage  having  been  concluded  between  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, son  of  Nabopolassar,  and  Amytis,  the  daughter  of 
Cyaxares,  the  kings  of  Babylon  and  Media  jointly  beseiged 
Nineveh. 

According  to  Justin,  Sardanapalus  was  a  most  effeminate 
prince,  who  betrayed  great  cowardice  on  the  revolt  of  the 
Medes,  and,  instead  of  defending  his  crown,  fled,  after  a  fee- 
ble resistance,  to  his  palace,  and  burned  himself  and  his  trea- 
sures in  a  pile  erected  for  that  purpose.  Diodorus,  however, 
gives  a  more  probable  account  of  the  downfall  of  Nineveh. 
He  states,  that,  relying  upon  an  ancient  prophecy,  that  Nine- 
should  never  be  taken  until  the  river  became  its  enemy,  Sar- 
danapalus omitted  nothing  that  prudence  and  courage  could 
suggest  for  his  defence  and  security.  He  sent  his  children, 
and  a  great  part  of  his  treasures,  to  his  intimate  friend  Cotta, 
governor  of  Paphlagonia,  and  provided  ammunition  and  pro- 
visions for  the  defence  and  support  of  the  inhabitants.  At 
length,  after  the  confederates  had  beseiged  the  city  for  two 
years  without  effect,  an  unusual  overflow  of  the  Tigris,  occa- 
sioned by  heavy  rains  in  the  mountains  of  Ararat  and  sources 
of  the  river,  occurred,  and  the  water  rising  up  to  the  city, 
threw  down  twenty  furlongs  of  its  great  wall.  Sarac,  struck 
with  dismay  and  despair  at  the  unexpected  fulfillment  of  the 
prophecy,  burned  his  concubines,  his  treasures,  and  himself, 
upon  a  great  pile,  in  the  court  of  the  palace,  to  avoid  falling 
into  the  hands  of  the  confederate  kings.  The  enemy  entered 
by  the  breach,  and  sacked  the  city,  and  raised  it  to  the  ground, 
after  it  had  stood  for  about  1,900  years.  [See  the  section  on 
Nineveh.] 

This  event  took  place  about  b.  c.  606  ;  after  which,  Assyria 
was  governed  by  the  monarchs  of  Babylon ;  for  the  power 
of  Assyria  was  now  passed  away  as  a  shadow. 


:  CHAPTER  V. 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  ASSYRIA. 

PAUT     n. BABYLONIAN     ADMINISTRATION. 

NABOPOLASSAR. 

The  capture  of  Nineveh  rewarded  the  Medes  with  independ- 
ence, and  the  Babylonians  with  empire.  The  essential  power 
of  Assyria  was,  however,  in  the  hands  of  the  Babylonians 
before  this  transaction  took  place:  it  was  only  the  crowning 
act,  which  placed  Nabopolassar  in  the  position  of  undisputed 

master  of  the  empire.  ,   ,      ,      •       j    .        a  isj-  ^ 

The  Babylonians  and  the  Medes  having  destroyed  IMne- 
veh,  became  so  formidable,  that  they  drew  upon  themselves 
the  jealousy  of  their  neighbours.  Pharaoh-nechoh  kmg  ot 
Eo-vpt,  was  so  alarmed  at  their  power,  that,  to  stop  their  pro- 
gress, he  marched  towards  the  Euphrates,  at  the  head  of  a 
powerful  army,  and  made  several  conquests.  [See  the  His- 
tory of  the  Egyptians,  page  146] 

In  the  fourth  year  after  this  expedition,  Nabopolassar,  ob- 
servino-,  that  since  these  conquests  of  Nekus,  all  Syria  and 
Palestine  had  shaken  off  their  allegiance  to  him,  and  that  his 
years  and  infirmities  would  not  permit  him  to  march  in  per- 
son against  the  rebels,  associated  his  son  Nebuchadnezzar 
with  him  in  the  empire.  •.  ,  .   r  i,    ,  i 

This  young  prince,  b.  c.  604,  revenged  his  father  s  quarrel 
upon  Nekus.  He  invaded  Egypt,  and  stripped  hrni  of  all 
his  conquests,  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Nile,  so  effectually, 
that  the  kino-  of  Egypt  no  more  invaded  his  neighbours.  2 
Kings  xxiv.''  This  event  was  foretold  by  the  prophet  Jere- 
miah.    See  chap.  xlvi. 

The  conquests  of  Nebuchadnezzar  did  not  end  here.     He 
likewise  entered  Judea,  besieged  Jerusalem,  and  took  it.     At 
first,  he  caused  Jehoiakim  to  be  put  in  chains,  with  a  design 
'  10* 


114  HISTORY   OF   THE    ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

'  to  have  him  carried  to  Babylon  ;  but  being-  touched  with  pity 
at  his  repentance  and  affliction,  he  restored  him  to  the  throne. 
Great  numbers  of  the  Jews,  and,  among  the  rest,  some  chil- 
dren of  the  royal  family,  were  carried  captive  to  Babylon, 
whither  the  treasures  of  the  king's  palace,  and  a  part  of  the 
sacred  vessels  of  the  temple,  were  likewise  transported. 
Among  the  captives  may  be  mentioned  the  prophets  Daniel 
and  Ezekiel,  and  Mordecai  was  carried  thither  some  time 
afterwards.  Thus  was  the  judgment  which  God  denounced, 
by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  to  king  Hezekiah,  accomplished.  See 
2  Kings  XX.  16 — 18.  From  this  famous  epoch,  therefore,  b. 
c.  605,  which  was  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim,  king  of 
Judah,  must  be  dated  the  captivity  of  the  Jews  at  Babylon,  so 
frequently  and  so  emphatically  foretold  by  Jeremiah.  See 
Jer.  xxii.  13—26;  xxv.  11;  xxvi.  20—23;  xxix.  10; 
etc.  etc. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  year,  b.  c.  604,  Nabopolassar 
king  of  Babylon  died  ;  and  he  was  succeeded  in  his  empire 
by  his  son 

NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 

Berosus  says,  that  Nebuchadnezzar  having  heard  of  his 
father's  death  while  yet  he  was  carrying  on  his  conquests  in. 
Judea,  left  his  Syrian,  Phenician,  Egyptian,  and  Jewish  cap- 
tives, with  his  heavy-armed  troops  and  baggage,  to  the  care 
of  his  friends  or  officers,  to  be  conducted  to  Babylon,  and 
went  thither  himself  with  a  small  party  across  the  desert, 
to  take  possession  of  the  kingdom,  when  he  appointed  the  fit- 
test stations  in  Babylonia  to  be  colonized  by  the  captives. 

In  the  first  year  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  reign,  Jehoiakim  re- 
belled against  him,  whereupon  his  generals,  who  still  re- 
mained in  Judea,  marched  against  him,  and  avenged  the 
"  innocent  blood,"  which  he  and  his  people,  following  the 
example  of  Manasseh,  had  shed,  2  Kings  xxiv.  2 — 4.  The 
prophet  Jeremiah  had  foretold  his  destruction  in  these 
words : 

"  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord 
Concerning  Jehoiakim  the  son  of  Josiah  king  of  Judah; 
They  shall  not  lament  for  him,  saying, 
Ah  my  brother !  or,  Ah  sister ! 
They  shall  not  lament  for  him,  saying, 
Ah  lord  !  or,  Ah  his  glory  ! 
He  shall  be  buried  with  the  burial  of  an  ass, 
Drawn  and  cast  forth  beyond  the  gates  of  Jerusalem." 

Jer,  xxu.  18,  19. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS    AND    CHALDEANS.  115 

His  doom  is  referred  to  more  explicitly,  also,  in  another 
passage : 

"  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  Jehoiakim  king  of  Judahj 
He  shall  have  none"to  sit  upon  the  throne  of  David : 
And  his  dead  body  shall  be  cast  out 
In  the  day  to  the  heat, 
And  in  the  night  to  the  frost," — Jer.  xxxvi.  30,  31. 

Accordingly,  as  we  learn  from  Ezekiel,  in  his  figurative 
description  of  Jehoiakim,  as  another  rapacious  lion's  whelp, 
succeeding  Shallum,  that 

"  The  nations  set  against  him  on  every  side  from  the  provinces, 
And  spread  their  net  over  him : 
He  was  taken  in  their  pit. 
And  they  put  him  in  ward  in  chains, 
And  brought  him  to  the  king  of  Babylon."— £7^6^;.  xix.  8,  9. 

That  is,  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  "bound  him,"  says  the 
sacred  historian,  "  in  fetters,"  (foretold  Hab.  i.  6.)  "  to  carry 
him  to  Babylon,"  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  6.  It  would  appear,  how- 
ever, that  Jehoiakim  died  before  the  king  of  Babylon's  inten- 
tions could  be  carried  into  effect ;  and  we  may  conclude  that 
he  was  buried  "  with  the  burial  of  an  ass,"  as  a  just  reward 
for  "  his  abominations,"  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  8. 

Jehoiakim  was  succeeded  in  his  kingdom  by  Jehoiachin, 
who- had  not  reigned  more  than  three  months  and  ten  days, 
before  Nebuchadnezzar  sent  to  his  servants  to  besiege  Jeru- 
salem ;  and  he  surrendered  himself  into  their  hands,  and  was 
brought  to  Babylon,  where  he  remained  in  captivity  all  his 
days,  2  Kings  xxiv.  8—12;  Jer.  Hi.  31—34.  This  event 
was  predicted  by  Jeremiah,  chap.  xxii.  24 — 27  ;  who,  also, 
foretold  the  failure  of  his  succession. 

^"  O  earth !  earth !  earth !  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord. 
''  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 

Write  ye  this  man  childless, 

A  man  that  shall  not  prosper  in  his  days; 

For  no  man  of  his  seed  shall  prosper, 

Sitting  upon  the  throne  of  David, 

And  ruling  any  more  in  Judah," — Jer.  xxii.  20,  30. 

When  Nebuchadnezzar  deposed  Jehoiachin,  he  appointed 
his  uncle  Zedekiah  to  reign  in  his  stead,  and  none  of  his  fa- 
mily reigned  any  more  in  Judah. 

Zedekiah  was  neither  more  pious  nor  prosperous  than  his 
predecessors.  Having  made  an  alliance  with  the  king  of 
Egypt,  he  broke  the  oath  of  fidelity  he  had  taken  to  the 


116  HISTORY  OF    THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

king  of  Babylon.  The  latter  however,  soon  chastised  him 
for  his  breach  of  faith.  He  invaded  Judea  with  a  j^reat 
army,  took  most  of  the  cities,  and  besieged  Jerusalem,  2  Kings 
xxiv.  20  ;   XXV.  1  ;  Jer.  xxxix.  1  ;  EzeJ^.  xxiv.  1,  2, 

This  was  in  the  latter  end  of  the  year  b.  c.  588.  Early 
the  next  year  however,  the  Egyptians  having  made  a  show 
of  coming  to  Zedekiah's  reUef  the  Chaldeans  broke  up  the 
siege  of  Jerusalem,  and  advanced  to  give  them  battle.  But 
the  Egyptians  retired,  and  left  the  Jews  to  their  fate,  as  Jere- 
miah forewarned  the  messengers  of  Zedekiah,  whom  he  sent 
to  inquire  of  the  Lord,  Jer.  xxxvii.  2 — 10.  On  the  return  of 
the  Chaldeans  to  the  siege,  they  pursued  it  vigorously,  until 
after  a  siege  of  eighteen  months  from  the  beginning,  they 
stormed  the  city  about  midnight,  and  put  the  inhabitants  to  the 
sword,  2  Kings  xxv.  2 — 4;  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  17 — 19;  Jer. 
xxxix.  1,  2.  Zedekiah,  his  sons,  and  ofHcers,  and  the  rem- 
nant of  his  army,  were  captured  in  the  plains  of  Jericho, 
from  Avhence  they  were  conducted  to  the  king  of  Babylon  at 
Riblah,  in  Coelo-Syria.  Nebuchadnezzar  upbraided  him  for 
his  ingratitude  and  breach  of  faith  ;  then  caused  his  sons  to 
be  slain  before  his  eyes,  and  his  eyes  to  be  put  out ;  after 
which,  he  commanded  his  officers  to  carry  him  in  fetters  of 
brass  to  Babylon,  where  he  died,  2  Kings  xxv.  6,  7  ;  Jer. 
xxxix.  4 — 7  :  fulfilling  the  prophecies  of  the  prophets  Jere- 
miah, chap,  xxxii.  4,  5  ;  xxxiv.  3 — 5  ;  and  Ezekiel,  chap, 
xii.  13. 

After  this,  Nebuchadnezzar  left  Gedaliah  governor  of 
Judea,  who  was  treacherously  slain  by  Ishmael,  and  a  party 
of  ten  men,  who  slew  also  the  Jews  and  the  Chaldeans  that 
were  with  him  at  Mizpeh,  his  residence,  and  then  escaped  to 
the  Ammonites,  Jer.  xli.  1  — 15. 

The  year  after  the  conquest  of  Judea,  b.  c.  585,  Nebuchad- 
nezzar resolved  to  revenge  himself  upon  all  the  surrounding 
nations,  who  had  solicited  the  Jews  to  a  confederacy  against 
him,  or  encouraged  them  to  rebel.  Among  these  may  be 
enumerated  the  Ammonites,  Moabites,  Edomites,  Arabians, 
Sidonians,  Tyrians,  Philistines,  Egyptians,  Abyssinians,  etc., 
Jer.  xxvii.  3;  Ezek.  xxv.  1 — 3;  xxvi.  1,  2;  Jer.  xxxvii.  7; 
etc.  The  subjugation  and  desolation  of  these  countries  by  this 
servant  of  the  Lord,  and  rod  of  God's  anger,  as  he  is  termed 
in  Scripture,  was  foretold  in  general  terms,  Jer.  xxv.  11; 
xxix.  10;  xxvii.  7;  Isa.  xxiii.  15;  and  the  punishments  of 
each  was  particularly  foretold  by  the  prophets  as  follows: — 
The  Ammonites,  Amos  i.  13 — 15:  Ezek.  xxv.  I — 10;    etc. 


HISTORY    OF   THE   ASSYRIANS    AND    CHALDEANS.  117 

The  Moabites,  Ezek.  xxv.  8 — 11  ;  Jer.  xxv.  21 ;  xlviii.  40 
— 47  ;  etc.  The  Edomites,  Amos  i.  13— 15  ;  Obadiah  10— 
16;  Jer.  xlix.  17;  etc.  The  Arabians,  Jer.  xxv.  24;  etc. 
The  Sidonians,  Jer.  xxv.  22  ;  xlvii.  4  ;  Ezek.  xxviii.  21—23  ; 
etc.  The  Tyrians,  Isa.  xxiii.  1 — 15;  Jer.  xxv.  22 ;  Ezek. 
xxvi.  7 — 14;  xxvii.  2—36;  etc.  The  Philistines,  Jer.  xxv. 
20;  Ezek.  xxv.  16;  Zeph.  ii.  5.  The  Egyptians,  Isa.  xix. 
4_23;  Jer.  xlvi.  13—26;  Ezek.  xxix.  2—12;  xxx.  20— 
26  ;  xxxii.  2 — 16  ;  Joel  iii.  19.  The  Ethiopians  or  Abyssin- 
ians,  Isa.  xviii. ;  Ezek.  xxx.  4 — U. 

After  having  subdued  the  eastern  and  western  states  in  the 
first  campaign,  Nebuchadnezzar  commenced  the  siege  of 
Old  Tyre,  in  the  second  year  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem, or  B.  c.  584. 

It  was  not  till  after  an  inleiTal  of  thirteen  years,  according 
to  the  Tyrian  annals,  recorded  by  Josephus,  that  the  Baby- 
lonian monarch  reduced  this  celebrated  city.  And  during 
this  time,  his  troops  suffered  incredible  hardships.  Accord- 
ing to  the  prophetic  declaration,  indeed,  in  achieving  this 
mighty  enterprise,  "  every  head  was  made  bald,  and  every 
shoulder  was  peeled,"  by  the  labours  they  had  to  undergo. 
Before  the  city  was  reduced  to  the  last  extremity,  its  inhabi- 
tants retired,  with  the  greatest  part  of  their  effects,  into  a 
neighbouring  isle,  a  mile  from  the  shore,  where  they  bulk  a 
new  city,  the  name  and  glory  whereof  extinguished  the  re- 
membrance of  the  ancient  city,  which  became  a  mere  village. 
At  the  present  moment,  it  is 

"A  rock,  and  waters,  and  a  waste 
Of  trackless  sand." 

Nebuchadnezzar,  during  the  siege  of  Tyre,  sent  Nabuzara- 
dan  with  an  army  into  Judea,  to  revenge  the  death  of  Geda- 
liah.  The  country,  however,  was  so  thin  of  inhabitants,  in 
consequence  of  a  recent  secession  to  Egypt,  for  fear  of  the 
Chaldeans,  that  he  carried  away  captive  only  745  persons. 
This  may  be  dated  b.  c.  582. 

About  the  same  time,  the  king  of  Babylon  invaded  Elam, 
or  Elymais,  and  took  Shushan,  or  Susa,  its  capital  from  the 
Medes,  according  to  prophecy.  See  Jer.  xxv.  25,  26 ;  xlix. 
34—38;  and  Ezek.  xxxii.  11—24.* 

As  a  recompence  for  the  service  which  Nebuchadnezzar 
and  his  army  had  served  against  Tyre,  the  prophet  Ezekiel 

*  For  more  extended  remarks  on  this  subject,  the  reader  is  referred  to 
"  The  Captivity  of  the  Jews,"  published  by  the  Religious  Tract  Society. 


120  HISTORY  OF  THE  ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS. 

ter  than  it  was  wont  to  be  made,  to  appease  the  fury  of  the 
haughty  monarch. 

When  found  in  the  path  of  duty,  the  Christian  may  expect, 
according  to  promise,  the  guidance  and  protection  of  his  God. 
Thus  it  was  with  these  Hebrew  youths.  In  refusing  to  bow 
down  in  worship  to  the  idol,  and  expecting  the  fulfilment  of 
Nebuchadnezzar's  threat,  they  expressed  themselves  thus 
piously :  "  O  Nebuchadnezzar,  we  are  not  careful  to  answer 
thee  in  this  matter.  If  it  be  so,  our  God  whom  we  serve  is 
able  to  deliver  us  from  the  burning  fiery  furnace,  and  he  will 
deliver  us  out  of  thine  hand,  O  king."  Their  expectations 
were  not  ill-founded.  Although  the  fire  slew  the  men  Avho 
executed  the  monarch's  evil  command,  they  walked  in  the 
midst  of  the  fire,  unharmed.  "  Did  not  we,"  said  the  trembling 
and  astonished  monarch,  "cast  three  men  bound  into  the 
midst  of  the  fire  ?  They  answered  and  said  unto  the  king, 
True,  O  king.  He  answered  and  said,  Lo,  I  see  four  men 
loose,  walking  in  the  midst  of  the  fire,  and  they  have  no  hurt  j 
and  the  form  of  the  fourth  is  like  the  Son  of  God." 

The  haughty  monarch,  now  humbled,  called  the  youthful 
martyrs  forth ;  and  he  was  again  compelled  to  confess,  that 
the  God  of  the  Jews  was  superior  to  any  other,  "  because 
there  is  no  other  God  that  can  deliver  after  this  sort,"  Dan. 
iii.  He  showed  his  conviction  to  be,  at  the  moment,  sincere, 
by  promoting  those  whose  destruction  he  had  sought,  in  the 
province  of  Babylon,  as  he  had  done  before. 

Pride  has  a  very  strong  foundation  in  the  human  mind. 
It  springs  from  sell^love,  which  is  the  most  deeply  rooted  part 
of  our  nature,  and  therefore  most  difficult  to  be  eradicated, 
in  the  case  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  it  showed  itself  proof 
against  miracles.  But,  as  Solomon  was  inspired  to  write, 
"  Pride  goeth  before  destruction,  and  a  haughty  spirit  before 
a  fall,"  Prov.  xvi.  18.  While  Nebuchadnezzar  exalted  him- 
self against  Heaven,  he  was  visited  by  a  most  remarkable 
dream.  He  saw  a  tree  in  the  midst  of  the  earth,  whose  height 
was  great.  This  tree  grew,  and  was  strong ;  the  height  of  it 
reached  unto  heaven,  and  the  sight  thereof  to  the  end  of  the 
earth.  The  leaves  were  fair,  and  the  fruit  abundant :  it  was 
meat  for  all.  The  beasts  of  the  field  took  refuge  under  it,  and 
the  foAvls  of  heaven  nestled  in  its  branches,  and  all  flesh  was 
fed  of  it.  Then  a  watcher,  and  a  holy  one  came  down  from 
heaven,  and  cried  ;  "  Hew  down  the  tree,  and  cut  off  his  bran- 
ches, shake  off  his  leaves,  and  scatter  his  fruit :  let  the  beasts 
get  away  from  under  it,  and  the  fowls  from  his  branches : 


HISTORY    OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  121 

nevertheless  leave  the  stump  of  his  roots  in  the  earth,  even 
with  a  band  of  iron  and  brass,  in  the  tender  grass  of  the  field  • 
and  let  it  be  wet  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  and  let  his  portioi^ 
be  with  the  beasts  in  the  grass  of  the  earth:  let  his  heart  be 
changed  from  man's,  and  let  a  beast's  heart  be  given  unto  him  ♦ 
and  let  seven  times  pass  over  him.  This  matter  is  by  the  de- 
cree of  the  watchers,  and  the  demand  by  the  word  of  the  holy 
ones .  to  the  mtent  that  the  living  may  know  that  the  Most 
High  ruleth  in  the  kingdom  of  men,  and  giveth  it  to  whom- 
soever he  will,  and  setteth  up  over  it  the  basest  of  men." 

This,  says  Dr.  Hales,  was  a  merciful  warning  to  this  ^reat 
prince,  when  at  rest  in  his  house,  and  flourishing  in  his  palace, 
to  break  off  his  sins,  especially  his  inordinate  pride,  and  his 
iniquities ;  especially  his  capricious  cruelty,  by  showing  mercy 
to  the  poor,  that  it  might  be  a  lengthening  of  his  tranquillity, 
according  to  the  sage  and  honest  advice  of  his  chief  counsel- 
lor Daniel,  after  the  king  had  told  his  dream,  and  the  prophet 
had  given  the  interpretation  thereof  from  God. 

The  tree  denoted  the  monarch  himself,  and  his  extensive 
dominions :  the  holy  watcher,  who  came  down  from  heaven 
and  commanded  to  hew  the  tree  down,  but  to  bind  the  stump 
of  Its  roots  that  was  left  in  the  ground  with  a  band  of  iron  and 
brass,  that  it  might  be  wet  Avith  the  dew  of  heaven,  and  have 
Its  portion  with  the  beasts  of  the  field,  until  the  expiration  of 
seven  times,  or  seven  years,  signified  the  decree  of  the  Al- 
mighty, for  depriving  him  of  his  reason,  and  banishing  him 
from  human  society,  to  associate  with  the  beasts  of  the  field, 
until  he  should  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  God,  who 
"  ruleth  in  the  kingdom  of  men,  and  giveth  it  to  whomsoever 
he  will,"  Dan.  iv.  4—27. 

It  was  thus  that  Daniel  interpreted  the  dream,  and  thus 
that  the  dream  was  fulfilled.  At  the  end  of  twelve  months,  as 
he  was  walking  in  his  palace,  and  admiring  the  beauty  and 
magnificence  of  Babylon,  he  exclaimed,  "  Is  not  this  great  Ba- 
bylon, that  I  have  built  for  the  house  of  the  kingdom  by  the 
might  of  my  power,  and  for  the  honour  of  my  majesty?'* 
While  the  word  was  in  his  mouth,  there  fell  a  voice  from 
heaven,  saying,  ^'  O  king  Nebuchadnezzar,  to  thee  it  is  spoken  : 
The  kingdom  is  departed  from  thee.  And  they  shall  drive 
thee  from  men,  and  thy  dwelling  shall  be  \vith  the  beasts  of 
the  field :  they  shall  make  thee  to  eat  grass  as  oxen,  and  seven 
times  shall  pass  over  thee,  until  thou  know  that  the  Most  High 
ruleth  in  the  kingdom  of  men,  and  giveth  it  to  whomsoever 

■\Tr\r      TT  HI 


VOL  n.  11 


122  HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS. 

he  will."  In  the  same  hour  his  understanding  departed  from 
him  ;  "  he  was  driven  from  men,  and  ate  grass  like  oxen,  and 
his  body  vvas  wet  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  till  his  hairs  were 
grown  like  eagles'  feathers,  and  his  nails  like  the  claws  of  a 
bird,"  Dan.  iv.  23—33. 

The  malady  by  which  the  Divine  judgment  punished  the 
pride  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  is  a  subject  on  which  opinions  are 
much  divided.  Without  adopting  any,  the  following  is  tran- 
scribed, as  one  of  the  most  probable,  from  the  "Medica  Sacra" 
of  the  learned  and  pious  Dr.  Mead.  He  says:  "All  the  cir- 
cumstances of  Nebuchadnezzar's  case  agi'ee  so  well  with  an 
hypochondriacal  madness,  that  to  me  it  appears  evident  that 
Nebuchadnezzar  was  seized  with  this  distemper,  and  under 
its  influence  ran  wild  into  the  fields ;  and  that,  fancying  him- 
self transformed  into  an  ox,  he  fed  on  grass,  after  the  manner 
of  cattle.  For  every  sort  of  madness  is  the  disease  of  a  dis- 
turbed imagination  f  which  this  unhappy  man  laboured  under 
full  seven  years.  And  through  neglect  of  taking  proper  care 
of  himself,  his  hair  and  nails  grew  to  an  uncommon  length ; 
whereby  the  latter  growing  thicker  and  crooked,  resembled 
the  claws  of  birds.  Now  the  ancients  called  people  affected 
with  this  kind  of  madness,  'wolf-men,'  or  'dog-men,'  because 
they  went  abroad  in  the  night  imitating  wolves  or  dogs ;  par- 
ticularly intent  upon  opening  the  sepulchres  of  the  dead,  and 
had  their  legs  much  ulcerated,  either  from  frequent  falls,  or 
the  bites  of  dogs.  In  like  manner  are  the  daughters  of  Prce- 
tus  related  to  have  been  mad,  who,  as  Virgil  says, 

'With  mimic  bowlings  filled  the  fields,'  Eel.  vi.  48. 

For,  as  Servius  observes,  Juno  possessed  their  minds  with 
such  a  species  of  fury,  that,  fancying  themselves  cows,  they 
ran  into  the  fields,  bellowed  often,  and  dreaded  the  plough. 
Nor  was  this  disorder  unknown  to  the  moderns:  for  Schenck- 
ius  records  a  remarkable  instance  of  it  in  a  husbandman  of 
Padua,  who,  imagining  himself  a  wolf,  attacked  and  even 
killed  several  people  in  the  fields  ;  and  when  at  length  he  was 
taken,  he  persevered  in  declaring  himself  a  real  wolf,  arid 
that  the  only  difllerence  consisted  in  the  inversion  of  his  skin 
and  hair.  But  it  may  be  objected  to  our  opinion,  that  this 
misfortune  was  foretold  to  the  king,  so  that  he  might  have 
prevented  it  by  correcting  his  morals ;  and  therefore  it  is  not 
probable  that  it  befel  him  in  the  course  of  nature.  But  we 
know  that  those  things  which  God  executes,  either  through 
clemency  or  vengeance,  are  frequently  performed  by  the  as- 


HISTORY   OF    THE   ASSYRIANS   AND    CHALDEANS,  123 

sistance  of  natural  causes.  Thus,  having  threatened  Heze- 
kiah  with  death,  and  being  afterwards  moved  by  his  prayers, 
he  restored  him  to  hfe,  and  made  use  of  figs,  laid  on  the  tu- 
mour, as  a  medicine  for  his  disease.  He  ordered  king  Herod, 
upon  account  of  his  pride,  to  be  devoured  by  worms.  And 
nobody  doubts  but  that  the  plague,  which  is  generally  attri- 
buted to  Divine  wrath,  most  commonly  owes  its  origin  to  cor- 
rupted air." 

It  Avas  thus  that  Nebuchadnezzar  spent  full  seven  long 
years  ;  an  awful  example  of  the  madness  of  pride  and  ambi- 
tion. At  the  expiration  of  that  time,  his  reason  returned.  In 
the  language  of  Holy  Writ,  he  lifted  up  his  eyes  unto  heaven, 
and  blessed  the  Most  High ;  he  praised  and  honoured  Him 
that  liveth  for  ever,  whose  dominion  is  an  everlasting  domin- 
ion, and  his  kingdom  is  from  generation  to  generation  ;  con- 
fessing, that  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  are  as  nothing  be- 
fore him,  and  that  he  doeth  according  to  his  will  in  the  army 
of  heaven,  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth ;  and  none 
can  stay  his  hand,  or  say  unto  him,  What  doest  thou  ?" 

The  courtiers  of  Nebuchadnezzar  now  sought  to  him  again ; 
he  was  restored  to  his  throne,  and  became  greater  and  more 
powerful  than  before,  inasmuch,  as  humbled  and  instructed 
by  his  sufferings,  he  gratefully  acknowledged  the  signs  and 
wonders  which  the  most  high  God  had  wrought  towards  him, 
and  praised  and  extolled  "  the  King  of  heaven,  all  whose 
works  are  truth,  and  his  ways  judgment,"  and  who  is  able  to 
abase  those  that  walk  in  pride,  Dan.  iv.  34 — 37. 

Having  thus  humbled  the  pride  of  this  mighty  monarch, 
God  was  pleased  to  show  that  he  did  not  need  his  services 
here ;  for  shortly  after  this,  b.  c.  561,  Nebuchadnezzar  died, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son. 


EVIL 


or  Ilvarodam,  in  Ptolemy's  Canon,  whose  first  act  was  the  en- 
largement of  the  Jewish  king  Jehoiachim  from  his  prison, 
whom  he  treated  kindly  all  the  days  of  his  life,  setting  him 
above  all  the  other  kings  that  were  at  Babylon.  See  Jer.  hi. 
31—34;  2  kings  XXV.  27—30.  But  the  reign  of  Evil  Me- 
rodach,  or  "foolish  Merodach,"  was  brief  According  to 
Xenophon,  on  his  accession  to  the  throne,  he  set  himself  to 
form  a  powerful  confederacy  of  the  neighbouring  states,  the 
Lydians,  Cappadocians,  Phrygians,  Carians,  Paphlagonians, 
and  Cilicians  westwards,  and  the  Indians  eastwards,  against 


124  HISTORY   OF   THE    ASSYRIANS   AXD    CHALDEANS. 

the  Medes  ;  alleging,  that  by  their  union  with  the  Persians  by 
marriage  and  alliance,  they  were  grown  great  and  powerful, 
and  unless  they  were  opposed  with  the  united  force  of  the 
confederates,  they  would  be  finally  subdued,  separately.  But 
the  designs  of  Evil  Merodach  were  frustrated.  Cyrus,  who 
was  appointed  general  of  the  combined  army  of  the  Medes 
and  Persians,  by  Cyaxares,  his  uncle  and  father-in-law,  anti- 
cipated the  threatened  invasion,  attacked  the  Babylonians, 
routed  and  pursued  them  to  their  camp,  and  slew  Evil  Mero- 
dach, B.  c.  558.     He  was  succeeded  in  his  kingdom  by 

BELSH.VZZAR, 

his  son,  the  common  accounts  of  whom  appear  to  combine 
with  what  is  said  of  the  Neriglissar  of  profane  historians. 

By  the  prophet  Isaiah,  who  represents  the  Babylonian  dy- 
nasty as  the  scourge  of  Palestine,  Nebuchadnezzar  is  styled 
"a  serpent,"  Evil  Merodach  ''a  cockatrice,"  and  Belshazzar, 
"a  fiery  flying  serpent,"  which  is  the  most  evil  and  destruc- 
tive of  all,  Isa.  xiv.  29. 

The  character  of  Belshazzar,  as  described  prophetically  by 
Isaiah,  and  the  accounts  of  Xenophon,  are  found  to  agree. 
According  to  that  writer,  his  barbarity  was  such  as  is  rarely- 
recorded  in  the  annals  of  history.  A  wanton  sporting  with 
the  lives  and  persons  of  his  subjects,  appears  to  have  ever  in- 
flamed his  breast.  Thus  he  slew  the  only  scyi  of  Gobryas  in 
a  transport  of  rage,  because,  at  a  hunting  match,  he  hit  a  bear 
with  his  spear,  and  afterwards  a  lion,  when  the  king  had 
failed  in  the  attempt. 

The  whole  life  of  Belshazzar  appears  to  have  been  one 
continued  scene  of  riot  and  intemperance.  His  last,  and  most 
heinous  ofTence,  was  the  profanation  of  the  sacred  vessels  be- 
longing to  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  which  even  his  grand- 
father and  father  had  respected.  At  a  great  festival  he  made 
a  feast  to  a  thousand  of  his  lords,  and  drank  wine  before 
them.  AVhile  at  the  board,  surrounded  by  parasites  and  con- 
cubines, he  had  the  audacity  to  send  for  these  holy  vessels, 
for  the  purpose  of  prostituting  them  to  debauchery.  And  to 
aggravate  sacrilege  by  ingratitude  against  the  Author  of  all 
their  enjoyments,  he  and  his  nobles,  etc.,  "  praised  the  gods 
of  gold,  and  of  silver,  of  brass,  of  iron,  of  wood,  and  of 
stone." 

But  this  desecration  was  marked  by  the  eye  of  God,  nor 
did  their  impiety  escape  punishment.     As  they  were  indulg- 


HISTORY  OF  THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEANS.  125 

ing  in  their  mad  revelry,  the  finger  of  God  penned  the  mon- 
arch's doom  upon  the  wall  opposite  his  seat.  His  eye  caught 
the  part  of  the  hand  which  wrote,  and,  alarmed  at  the  appa- 
rition, and  the  mystical  characters,  he  called  aloud  for  the 
magicians,  of  whom  he  required  an  explanation,  and  an  in- 
terpretation of  the  writing. 

But  none  could  read,  and  none  interpret,  and  confusion  pre- 
vailed in  the  palace,  and  an  awful  uncertainty  in  the  bosom  of 
all  its  inmates.  At  length,  however,  the  queen-mother  re- 
minded her  son  of  the  eminent  wisdom  of  Daniel,  who  had  been 
long  despised,  and  he  was  sent  for  into  the  royal  presence. 

The  prophet  came,  and  the  king  offered  him  the  highest 
rewards  and  honours  if  he  would  interpret  the  inscription. 
But  Daniel  knew  too  well  the  empty  nature  of  sublunary  hon- 
ours to  be  dazzled  by  such  an  offer.  This  his  answer  to  the 
monarch  proved :  "  Let  thy  gifts  be  to  thyself,"  said  he,  "  and 
give  thy  rewards  to  another  ;  yef  I  will  read  the  writing  unto 
the  king,  and  make  known  to  him  the  interpretation." 

Before  the  prophet  did  this,  he  boldly  charged  the  monarch 
with  the  impious  deed  of  profaning  the  holy  vessels  of  God's 
sanctuary,  and  of  committing  a  flagrant  act  of  rebellion  against 
the  Majesty  of  heaven.  He  then  read  aloud,  and  interpreted 
to  this  terrified  auditory  the  mystical  writing,  a  view  of  which 
has  thus  been  taken  by  Dr.  Hales. 

THE    INSCRIPTION. 
MENE  MENE  TEKEL  [PERES]  UPHARSIN 

"  Number    Number      Weight     [Division]  And  Divisions." 
THE    INTERPRETATION. 

Mene — "  God  hath  numbered  thy  reign,"  and 

Mene— "  Hath  finished  it."  The  repetition  emphatically 
signifying  that  the  decree  was  certain,  and  should  shortly 
come  to  pass.     See  Gen.  xli.  32. 

Tekel — "  Thou  art  weighed  in  the  balances,  and  art  found 
wanting  "     See  Job  xxxi.  6  ;  Rev.  vi.  5 

Peres — "  Thy  kingdom  is  divided." 

Upharsin — "And  given  to  the  Mede  and  the  Persian" 
[Darius  and  Cyrus.] 

Belshazzar  heard  this  dreadful  sentence,  and  however  un- 
welcome it  was  to  him,  he  nevertheless  bestowed  upon  Dan- 
iel the  promised  rewards :  he  caused  him  to  be  clothed  in 

11* 


126  HISTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AND   CHALDEAJTS. 

scarlet,  with  a  chain  of  gold  about  his  neck,  and  to  be  pro- 
claimed the  third  ruler  in  the  kingdom. 

"  In  that  night  was  Belshazzar  the  king  of  the  Chaldeans 
slain,"  Dan.  v.  25 — 30.  This  is  the  brief  statement  of  Holy- 
Writ.  No  circumstances  are  detailed.  All  inquiries,  there- 
fore, into  the  particulars  are  only  conjectures,  or  to  be  sup- 
ported by  such  evidence  as  may  be  found  in  common  writers. 
If  these  contradict  each  other,  we  may  adopt  which  we  think 
best  grounded,  without  in  the  least  departing  from,  or  impugn- 
ing the  truth  of  Scripture. 

According  to  Xenophon,  Belshazzar  was  slain  by  con- 
spirators ;  for  he  states,  that  Gobryas  and  Godatas,  who  led 
the  band  that  broke  into  his  palace,  were  the  first  who  adored 
the  gods  for  having  punished  the  impious  king.  Dr.  Hales 
conceives  it  probable  that  Daniel's  interpretation  of  the  hand- 
writing upon  the  wall  hastened  his  doom,  since  the  conspira- 
tors, with  iheir  most  injured  leaders,  would  now  consider  him 
as  devoted  to  immediate  destruction  by  God  himself  for  his 
"  sacrilege."  "  The  great  feast,"  adds  this  excellent  writer, 
"  on  the  night  of  which  he  was  slain,  appears  to  have  been  a 
season  of  profound  peace  and  tranquillity,  when  a  thousand  of 
his  lords  could  freely  come  from  all  parts  of  his  empire  with- 
out molestation  or  interruption  from  a  besieging  enemy,  and 
when  the  king  would  be  most  apt  to  forget  God,  after  he  had 
eaten,  and  was  full."  The  death  of  Belshazzar  occurred  b.  c. 
653j  and  he  was  succeeded  in  his  kingdom  by 

L  ABOROSO  AR  CHAD, 

A  boy,  who,  according  to  Berosus,  was  slain  in  a  conspiracy, 
nine  months  after,  when,  according  to  Dr.  Hales,  the  Baby- 
lonian dynasty  became  extinct,  and  the  kingdom  descended 
peaceably  to  "  Darius  the  Mede,"  or  Cyaxares ;  who,  on  the 
well-known  policy  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  appointed  a 
Babylonian  nobleman  named 

NABONADIUS, 

Or  Labynetus,  to  be  king,  or  viceroy. 

According  to  Rollin,  and  other  writers  of  ancient  history, 
this  person  was  the  Belshazzar  of  Scripture ;  but  Dr.  Hales, 
who  is  here  followed,  has  satisfactorily  shown,  that  the  suc- 
cession of  Darius  the  Mede  to  the  Babylonian  throne,  was 
not  attended  with  war.     After  recording  the  death  of  Labo- 


mSTORY   OF   THE   ASSYRIANS   AKD    CHALDEANS.  127 

rosoarchad,  he  says :  "  The  family  of  Nebuchadnezzar  being" 
now  extinct,  and  the  Babylonian  dynasty  ended,  according  to 
prophecy,  who  had  so  good  a  title  to  the  crown  as  Cyaxares, 
or  '  Darius  the  Mede  ?'  1.  He  was  pointed  out  as  the  next 
successor  by  the  prophet  Daniel,  whose  interpretation  of  the 
Divine  inscription  must  naturedly  have  had  the  greatest 
weight  with  the  grandees  and  the  whole  nation.  2.  He  was 
the  queen-mother's  brother,  and  the  next  of  kin,  by  her  side, 
to  the  crown.  And,  3.  He  was  by  far  the  most  powerful 
competitor  for  it,  and  also  a  prince  of  an  easy  and  amiable 
disposition.  Upon  all  these  accounts,  therefore,  we  cannot 
hesitate  to  admit,  that  the  Babylonians  made  him,  soon  after, 
a  voluntary  tender  of  the  sovereignty,  and  that  '  Darius  the 
Mede'  took,  or  accepted  the  kingdom,  with  their  free  and  full 
consent."  According  to  this,  it  would  appear  that  Belshazzar 
was  not  the  king  in  whose  time  the  city  was  taken  by  Cyrus  j 
and  consequently  the  events  which  took  place  on  the  night  on. 
which  Belshazzar  was  slain,  were  distinct  from,  and  anterior 
to  the  siege  and  capture  of  the  city  by  the  Persian  king. 

Nabonadius,  it  would  appear,  held  his  office  for  the  space 
of  seventeen  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time,  b.  c.  536,  he  re- 
volted against  Cyrus,  who  had  this  year  succeeded  to  the 
united  empire  of  the  Medes  and  Persians.  Cyrus  could  not 
attend  immediately  to  him,  but  at  length  he  marched  to  Baby- 
lon, and  took  the  city,  during  the  drunken  festival  of  the 
Sakea,  as  predicted  by  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  ch.  li.  28 — 41. 
This  event  took  place  in  the  first  year  of  the  sovereignty  of 
Cyrus,  after  which  the  proud  city  mouldered  into  dust.  It  is 
known  only  in  the  pages  of  history,  and  there  it  is  exhibited 
as  a  monument  of  God's  wrath,  and  as  testifying  to  the  frailty 
of  all  sublunary  affairs.* 

"  The  glory  of  Babel  the  proud  is  no  more, 
She  hath  perished,  as  lesser  things  perished  before ; 
She  is  desolate  now,  and  the  dragon  crawls 
O'er  the  muddy  heaps  of  her  ruined  walls ; 
And  the  serpents  creep,  and  the  wild  beasts  stray 
Where  her  chambers  of  state  and  her  proud  halls  lay ; 
And  nothing  is  left,  save  a  tale  of  her  fame, 
The  fame  of  her  glory,  and  wreck  of  her  name." — Anon. 

*  The  date  of  the  taking  of  Babylon  by  Cyrus,  as  connected  with  the 
liberation  of  the  Jews,  is  not  affected  by  this  correct  view  of  history ; 
whereas,  by  the  plan  adopted  by  some,  of  placing  the  death  of  Belshazzar 
and  the  siege  of  Babylon  together,  the  reign  of  the  former  is  carried  down 
too  fer  in  the  chronology  of  the  Babylon  monarchs. 


THE  FOLLO^VING 

PYNASTIES     OF     ASSYRIA 

ARE  TAKEN  FROM  DR.  HALES. 


I.— ASSYRIAN  DYNASTY.    317  YEARS. 

Y.     M.  B.  C. 

1.  Nimrod,  Ninus  t.  Belus,  f.r  Maha  Bala 98    8 2554 

2.  Evechous,  or  Chasma  Belus 7    6  .. ..  2455 

3  Poms '35        ....  2448 

4.  Nerhubus 43        2413 

5.  Abiiis 48  ....  2370 

6.  Oniballus 40        2322 

7.  Ziiiziriid 45  ...  2282 

Interregnum 985  ....  2237 

End  of  the  Interregnum 1252 

11.— ASSYRIAN  DYNASTY.    431  YEARS. 

1.  Mlthraeua,  or  Ninus  n 37  ....  1252 

2.  T«u tunes,  or  Teu tamed 32  ....  1215 

3.  THiitaeiis 44        1183 

4.  Thinaeiis 30  ...  1139 

5.  Dercylus 40  ...  1109 

6.  Eupiilis,  or  Empiichmes 38  ....  1U69 

7.  I.fiosthenes 45  ....  1031 

8.  Pertiades 30        9'^6 

9.  Ophrataeus 21         9rS 

10.  Epecheres,  or  Ofrntanes 52         935 

11.  Acrafjanes,  or  Acriizai)e» 42        ....     R33 

12.  Thouus  Concolerus 20        841 

End  of  the  Dynasty 431        821 

ni.— ASSYRIAN  DYNASTY.  BABYLONIAN  KINGS. 

B    C.  T.     B.C. 

1.  King  of  Nineveh ^%  1.  Nabonassar 14  747 

Jonah's  Prophecy 8f»0  2Nairms 2  733 

2.  Pill,  or  Belns  II 790  3.  Chinzirus 5  731 

First  Invasion  of  Israel 770  4.  .Ingaeiis 5  726 

3.  Tii,'lath-Pile.ser 747  5.  Mardork  Einpad,  or  Mero- 

Second  Invasion  of  Israel 740  dach  Baladan 12  721 

4  Shalmanasar 726  revolls  from  Assyria. ..  710 

Third  Invasion  of  Israel 722  writes  to  Ilezekiah. . . .  710 

Hamiiria  taken 719  6.  Arcianus 5  709 

5.  Sennacherib 711  i.  Interregnum 2    701 

First  Invasion  of  Judah 711        7.  Belibus 3    702 

6.  Et-arhaddon,  A.saradin,  or  Sarda-  8    Apronadius 6    699 

napalus  1 710        9Regibelns 1  693 

Medes  and  Babylonians  revolt..  710      10.  Messemordarh 4  692 

Babylon  regained 680             n.  Interregnum 8  688 

Second  Invasion  of  Judah,  and  11.  Asaradin.  or  Esarhaddon. . .   13  680 

Captivity  of  .Manasseh 674      12    rtaosdijohim 20  667 

7.  Ninus  III 667      13.  Chynelad.m 22  647 

8.  Nabuchodoiiosor 658  14.  Nabopolassar,     or     Labyne- 

Defeat   of  .\rpha.xad,  or  Phra-                        tu.s  i 21  625 

ones,  the  Mede 641             Nineveh  taken  by  the  Baby- 
Third  Invasion  of  Judah  by  Ho-  lonians  and  Medes 606 

lofernes 640 

9.  Sarac,  or  Sardanapalus  II 636 

Nineveh  taken 606 

BABYLONIAN  DYNASTY. 

Y.    B.C. 

Nineveh  taken 2  606 

1.  Nahopolassar,  L.abynetus  i.,  Boktanser,  or  Nebuchadnezzar 43  604 

subdues  Elam,  or  Persia 596 

9.  llverodam.  or  Evil  Merodach 3  561 

3.  Niracassolassar,  Neriglissar,  or  Belshazzar 5  55S 

4.  Nabonadius,  or  Lahynetus  II.,  appointed  by  Darius  the  Mede 17  553 

Babylon  taken  by  Cyrus 70  536 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE    MEDES. 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  PHYSICAL  HISTORY  OF  MEDIA. 


Tffls  country,  once  the  seat  of  a  potent  empire,  derived  its 
name  from  Madai,  the  third  son  of  Japhet ;  as  may  be  ga- 
thered from  Scripture,  in  which  the  Medes  are  constantly 
thus  denominated.  See  2  Kings  xvii.  6 ;  Isa.  xiii.  17 ;  Dan. 
V.  28,  etc. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  the  boundaries  of  Media,  as  they 
appear  to  have  varied  in  different  ages.  According  to  the 
best  authorities,  however.  Media  Proper  was  bounded  by  Ar- 
menia and  Assyria  Proper  on  the  west ;  by  Persia  on  the 
east ;  by  the  Caspian  provinces  on  the  north ;  and  by  Susiana 
on  the  south. 

In  ancient  times,  Media  was  divided  into  several  provinces, 
namely,  Tropatene,  Charomithrane,  Darites,  Marciane,  Ama- 
riace,  and  Syro-Media.  According  to  Strabo,  these  were,  by 
a  later  division,  reduced  to  two  provinces.  Great  Media,  and 
Media  Atropatene. 

Great  Media,  which  is  a  high  table  land,  is  said  by  all 
writers  to  have  possessed  a  good  climate  and  fertile  soil ;  an 
account  which  is  confirmed  by  modern  travellers.  It  was 
separated  on  the  west  and  south-west  from  the  low  country 
watered  by  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates,  by  a  range  of 
mountains,  known  to  the  ancients  by  the  namfes  of  Zagros 
and  Parachoatris.  On  the  east  it  was  bounded  by  a  desert 
and  the  Caspian  mountains,  (the  modern  Elburz  mountains;) 
and  on  the  north  and  north-west  by  the  Cadussii,  Atropatene, 
and  the  Matiene :  thus,  nearly  corresponding  to  the  modern 


130  mSTORY  OF  THE  MEDES. 

Irak  Ajemi,  which  is  the  most  western  province  of  the  Per- 
sian empire. 

Media  Atropatene,  now  called  Aderbijan,  extended  as  far 
north  as  the  Arates.  This  was  a  cold,  barren,  and  inhospit- 
able country,  on  which  account  it  is  supposed  that  Tiglath- 
pileser  and  Shalmaneser,  kings  of  Assyria,  chose  it  for  the 
abode  of  the  captive  tribes  of  Israel ;  (see  2  Kings  xvii.  6 ; 
1  Chron.  v.  26 ;)  acting  upon  a  similar  course  of  policy, 
which  actuated  the  Russian  monarch,  Peter  the  Great,  in 
transferring  the  Swedish  prisoners,  taken  at  Pukowa,  into 
the  barren  regions  of  Siberia.  By  some  authors,  this  divi- 
sion of  Media  is  supposed  to  have  derived  its  name  from 
Atropates,  who  successfully  opposed  the  Macedonians,  and 
established  an  independent  monarchy,  which  continued  till 
the  time  of  Strabo,  notwithstanding  its  proximity  to  the  Ar- 
menian and  Parthian  dominions.  It  is  more  probable,  how- 
ever, that  the  appellation  of  Atropatene  is  a  corruption  of 
Adzur-bagjan,  or  "  The  Place  of  Fire,"  from  the  number  of 
pyrea,  or  fire  temples,  erected  there,  Thebarma,  on  the  lake 
of  Urmeeah,  in  Aderbijan,  being  the  reputed  place  of  Zoro- 
aster's birth ;  or  from  the  volcanic  eruptions  to  which  it  is 
subjected. 

MOUNTAINS. 

According  to  Ptolemy  and  Strabo,  the  mountains  of  Media, 
demanding  notice,  are 

1.  Choatra,  parting  Media  from  Assyria,  and  branching 
out  from  the  Gordyan  or  Carduchian  mountains,  on  the  con- 
fines of  Assyria  and  Armenia. 

2.  Zagros^  a  mountain  range,  which  divides  Media  from 
Assyria  on  the  east.     And, 

3.  Parachoatra^  which  is  placed  by  Ptolemy  on  the  bor- 
ders, towards  Persia,  and  by  Strabo  on  the  confines  of  Media, 
Hyrcania,  and  Parthia. 

These  are  boundaries  between  Media  and  the  adjacent  re- 
gions ;  and,  therefore,  may  be  said  to  belong  to  the  latter  as 
well  as  the  former.  But  there  are  other  mountains,  those  of 
the  Orontes,  the  Jasonius,  and  the  Coronus,  which,  as  they 
stand  in  the  very  heart  of  the  country,  may,  in  the  strictest 
sense,  be  termed  mountains  of  Media.  The  principal  of 
these  is  the 

Orontes^  or  the  modern  Alwend,  which  bounds  the  plains 
of  Hamadan  to  the  north-west.     This  range  stretches  from 


HISTORY   OF   THE   MEDES.  131 

north-east  to  south-west,  thirty  miles  in  length,  and  is  com- 
pletely separated  from  the  more  northern  ranges  of  Giroos 
and  Sahund.  When  viewed  from  the  south  and  south-east, 
the  Orontes  presents  the  appearance  of  a  vast  range  of  sepa- 
rate mountains.  It  commences  with  a  gradual  ascent  from 
the  north-east,  and  covers  with  its  ramifications  upwards  of 
sixty  miles  of  ground.  The  summit  of  the  mountain  is  co- 
vered  with  perpetual  snow,  and  Sir  R.  Ker  Porter,  who  as- 
cended it  in  the  month  of  September,  when  the  summer  heat 
has  attained  its  maximum,  found  the  ravines  below  the  peak 
deeply  covered  with  snow.  From  this  circumstance,  and  the 
high  elevation  of  the  plains  of  Hamadan,  in  which  it  is  situ- 
ated, it  is  thought  that  it  rivals  Olympus  in  absolute  elevation 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  though  not  in  respect  of  its  altitude 
from  the  base  of  the  plain.  The  elevation  of  the  plams  of 
Hamadan  is  alone  5,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.^  The 
ascent  of  the  mountain  of  Orontes,  or  Alwend,  occupied  Sir 
R.  Ker  Porter  four  hours  on  horseback,  and  half  an  hour 
more  was  required  to  scale  the  summit.  Eight  hours  are 
required  to  ascend  the  summit  of  Olympus  from  the  plains 
of  Broussa :  five  hours  and  a  half  on  horseback,  the  rest  on 
foot.  This  will  give  an  idea  of  the  difference  of  the  eleva- 
tions of  the  plains  on  which  these  mountains  stand. 

RIVERS. 

The  rivers  of  note,  according  to  Ptolemy,  are  the  Straton, 
Amardus,  Cyrus,  and  Cambyses.  But  these  rivers,  as  they 
are  represented  to  fall  into  the  most  southern  part  of  the  Cas- 
pian sea,  must,  by  their  positions,  have  belonged  to  the  pro- 
vinces now  denominated  Ghilan  and  Mazandaran  ;  and  con- 
sequently could  not  belong  to  Media  Proper,  as  it  is  described 
by  the  ancients. 

CLIMATE,    PRODUCTIONS,   ETC. 

The  northern  parts  of  Media,  lying  between  the  Caspian 
mountains  and  the  sea,  are  very  cold  and  barren.  Chardin 
says  that  the  snow  lies  on  the  mountains  nine  months  in  the 
year  The  southern  parts  of  Media,  however,  are  productive 
of  all  kinds  of  grain,  and  necessaries  for  life  ;  and  they  are  so 
pleasant  that  the  country  adjoining  Tauris  is  called  "  The 
Garden  of  Persia."  In  this  part  of  the  country  there  are 
large  plains,  among  which  that  of  Nysa  was  famous  in  an- 


132  HISTORY   or   TilE   IvIEDES. 

cient  times  for  the  numerous  stud  of  horses  fed  there  for  the 
use  of  the  Persian  monarch s. 

Where  this  plain  of  Nysa  was  situated,  it  is  now  difficult 
lo  determine.  The  ancients  place  it  in  the  most  eastern  part 
of  Media,  and  beyond  the  limits  of  what  is  now  supposed  to 
have  been  properly  this  country.  Sir  J.  Chardin  conceives 
that  he  passed  over  this  fertile  tract  of  ground  ;  but  if  he  is 
correct,  it  must  be  placed  several  degrees  nearer  us  than  the 
ancient  geographers  have  defined  its  position.  He  says : 
"  We  continued  our  w'ay,  from  Tauris  towards  Persia,  upon 
the  most  beautiful  and  fertile  plains,  covered  with  villages. 
These  plains  afford  the  most  excellent  pasture  of  all  Media, 
and,  I  dare  say,  of  the  whole  world,  and  the  best  horses  of 
the  country  were  there  at  grass.  I  asked  a  young  noblemen, 
in  company  with  us,  if  there  were  any  other  plains  in  Media 
so  fine  and  so  extensive.  He  told  me  he  had  seen  some  as 
fine  about  Derbent,  but  none  more  extensive.  So  that  it  is 
reasonable  enough  to  believe  that  these  plains  are  the  Hippo- 
baton  of  the  ancients,  and  where,  they  say,  the  kings  of  Media 
had  a  stud  of  fifty  thousand  horses  ;  and  that  here  it  is  also 
we  must  look  for  the  Nysean  plain,  so  famous  for  the  horses 
of  that  name.  Stephanus,  the  geographer,  says  that  Nysa 
was  in  the  country  of  the  Medes.  1  told  this  same  nobleman 
some  particulars  which  historians  relate  concerning  those 
horses,  particularly  Phavoriniis,  who  says  all  the  Nysean 
horses  were  light  duns.  He  answered,  that  he  had  never 
read  or  heard  any  thing  of  the  kind.  I  afterwards  inquired 
of  several  gentlemen  of  learning,  but  could  never  understand 
that  there  was  any  place,  either  in  Persia  or  Media,  that  pro- 
duced horses  of  that  colour." 

Polybius,  in  describing  Media,  says.  This  country  is  the 
most  powerful  kingdom  in  all  Asia,  as  well  for  its  extent  as 
for  the  number  and  strength  of  its  inhabitants,  and  the  great 
quantity  of  horses  it  produces.  Media  furnishes  all  Asia  with 
those  beasts,  and  its  pastures  are  so  rich,  that  the  neighbouring 
monarchs  send  their  studs  there. 

The  climate  of  Media  is  very  unequal ;  that  part  which  lies 
between  the  mountains  and  the  sea  is  exceedingly  cold,  and 
the  earth  swampy,  and  full  of  marshes,  where  innumerable 
swarms  of  venomous  insects  are  bred,  which,  together  with 
the  vapours  rising  from  the  Caspian  sea,  render  that  part  very 
inhospitable,  ^lian  tells  us,  that  these  parts  of  Media  were 
infested  by  scorpions,  and  that  while  the  king  of  Persia  was 
on  his  progress  into  Media,  the  inhabitants  were  employed^ 


HISTORY   OF   THE    MEDES.  133 

for  three  days  before  his  arrival  on  the  confines,  in  destroying 
them. 

The  provinces  that  are  more  remote  from  the  sea  enjoy  a 
very  wholesome  air,  though  liable  to  heavy  rains  and  violent 
storms,  especially  according  to  Chardin,  in  spring  and 
autumn.  This  author  states  that,  besides  the  cattle  and  game, 
which  the  inland  provinces  abound  with,  some  of  them  have 
been,  for  many  ages,  remarkable  on  account  of  the  various 
sorts  of  excellent  wine  they  produce,  especially  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Tauris,  where  no  fewer,  than  sixty  different  kinds  of 
grapes,  all  of  an  exquisite  flavour,  are  now  gathered. 

In  the  plains  of  Hamadan,  the  climate  is  very  pleasant. 
The  thermometer  never  rises,  in  the  height  of  summer,  higher 
than  80*^.  The  heat,  therefore,  is  never  very  oppressive,  as 
in  other  parts  of  Persia,  being  constantly  tempered  by  a  cool 
breeze  from  the  north-west  during  this  season.  It  is  no  won- 
der, then,  that  the  Persian  kings  made  Ecbatana  (which,  as 
will  be  seen,  was  situated  in  these  plains)  their  summer  resi- 
dence. This  province  abounds  in  fine  rivulets  of  the  purest 
water,  which  is  a  blessing  of  inestimable  value  in  the  arid 
and  parched  regions  of  Persia.  The  habitations  on  these 
plains  are  profusely  interspersed  with  trees,  which  give  variety 
and  beauty  to  the  scenery.  Beside  the  poplar,  the  narwend, 
a  species  of  elm,  is  a  very  common  tree,  and  grows  into 
shapes  so  formal  as  to  raise  suspicions  that  they  have  ac- 
quired them  by  art.  On  the  skirts  of  the  Orontes,  Morier 
was  introduced  into  an  extensive  garden,  in  the  centre  of 
which  was  an  alley  of  poplar,  willow,  and  narwend  trees, 
nearly  a  mile  long,  and  in  which  many  of  the  natives  were 
singing  and  taking  their  pleasure.  One  large  group  was 
seated  around  a  basin  of  the  coolest  and  most  transparent 
water.  The  extensive  plain  itself  is  varied  at  short  distances 
with  villages  rising  from  amidst  groves  of  the  noblest  trees, 
and  seems  one  luxuriant  carpet  of  the  richest  verdure, 
studded  with  hamlets,  and  watered  with  numberless  rills. 
From  all  this,  some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  fertility  of 
Media  in  ancient  times,  when  it  was  the  seat  of  empire. 
VOL.  n.  1*2 


CHAPTER   IL 

TOPOGRAPHICAL  HISTORY  OF  MEDIA. 

H,AXAII,    lUBOR,    AND    KARA. 

These  three  cities  are  mentioned  2  Kings  xvii.  6,  and 
1  Chron.  v.  26,  as  cities  of  the  Medes,  to  which  the  captive 
tribes  of  Israel  were  transported  by  Shalmaneser  and  Tiglath- 
pileser,  kings  of  Assyria,  who,  according  to  history,  both 
sacred  and  profane,  possessed  the  country  of  Media  as  part  of 
their  empire.  The  tribes  of  Reuben,  Gad,  and  half  Manas- 
seh,  were  sent  thither  by  Tiglath-pileser,  about  b.  c.  740,  and 
the  remaining  seven  tribes  and  a  half,  about  b.  c.  719,  by  his 
successor,  Shalmaneser. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe,  that  the  names  of  all  these 
places  have  been  satisfactorily  traced  by  Major  Rennel,  and 
other  travellers,  in  the  remote  northern  district  of  Media,  to- 
wards the  Caspian  sea  and  the  province  of  Ghilan;  or,  more 
definitely,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  river  Kizil-Ozan,  the 
ancient  Gozan,  which  now  forms  the  southern  limit  of  the 
two  most  northern  provinces  of  Persia,  those  of  Aderbijan  and 
Ghilan.  _ 

The  river  Gozon  is  spoken  of  in  the  text  as  watering  the 
country  w^here  these  cities  stood  ;  and  on  a  branch  of  it  is 
found  a  city  named  Abhar,  or  Habar,  which  is  reputed  to  be 
exceedingly  ancient,  and  which  evidently  refers  to  Habor. 
The  name  of  it  is  given  variously  by  geographers,  as  Abhar : 
by  Abulfeda  ;  Abher,  Herbelot ;  Abar,  Han  way ;  Habar, 
Tavernier  ;  Abhor,  Delia  Valle  ;  Ebher,  Chardin  ;  Ebbeher, 
Olearius  ;  and  Abhar,  in  the  tables  of  Nasereddin  and  Ulugh- 
Begh.  A  remarkable  circumstance  connected  wnth  this 
place,  and  which  is  supposed  to  confirm  its  identity  with  the 
ancient  Habor,  is,  that  it  is  the  first  place,  in  coming  from  the 
west,  where  Persian  is  spoken,  and  from  thence  eastward  all 
the  way  to  Hindostan.     Morier,  however,  a  later  traveller, 


HISTORY  OF   THE   MEDES.  135 

who  traversed  Aderbijan  in  various  directions,  mentions  a 
great  and  snowy  mountain,  called  Ak-Dagh,  or  the  white 
mountain,  sixty-six  English  miles  south-east  of  Ardebil,  thirty- 
five  of  Iris,  and  thirty-five  east  of  the  Kizil-Ozan,  and  belong- 
ing to  the  range  of  Talish,  which  bounds  the  district  of  Chal- 
cal  on  the  east.  At  the  base  of  this  snow-clad  peak,  is  a  city 
called  Herah,  as  large  as  the  town  of  Zengan,  in  Media, 
which,  as  it  is  in  the  very  district  of  Chalcal,  and  on  the  north 
of  the  Kizil  Ozan,  and  as  it  seems  to  be  a  mere  transposition 
of  the  word  Habor,  is  thought,  by  some,  more  likely  to  be 
the  Habor,  to  which  the  ten  tribes  were  carried,  than  Abher. 

Bordering  on  the  Kizil-Ozan  itself,  is  a  district  of  some  ex- 
tent, and  of  great  beauty  and  fertility,  named  Chalcal,  and 
having  in  it  a  remarkably  strong  position,  of  the  same  name, 
situated  in  one  of  the  hills  adjoining  to  the  mountains,  which 
separate  it  from  the  province  of  Ghilan.  Allowing  for  the 
change  of  spelling  and  pronunciation  in  so  many  ages,  this 
name  is  not  far  removed  from  Halah,  or  Chalach.  This  dis- 
trict is  described  by  Olearius,  Delia  Valle,  Rennel,  and 
Morier  ;  the  latter  of  whom,  who  traversed  it  in  his  journey 
from  Ardebil  to  the  Kizil-Ozan,  says :  "  At  Iris  we  had 
entered  the  large  and  fertile  district  of  Chalcal,  justly  called 
the  granary  of  Aderbijan,  and  esteemed  the  finest  part  of 
Albas  Mirza's  government.  As  we  advanced  from  Iris  into 
Chalcal,  the  country  progressively  improved  in  richness  of 
soil  and  extent  of  cultivation.  (Quitting  the  high  country,  we 
commenced  a  gradual  descent  to  the  Kizil-Ozan,  and  stopped 
at  the  village  of  Paras,  where  are  some  striking  masses  of 
rock,  from  the  summit  of  one  of  w^hich  we  enjoyed  an  exten- 
sive view  ;  for  the  deep  dell  of  the  river  was  at  our  feet,  and 
at  a  very  great  distance,  just  delineated  in  the  horizon,  were 
the  snowy  summits  of  the  range  of  Sahund.  The  descent 
from  Paras  to  the  Kizil-Ozan  was  extremely  grand,  present- 
ing many  fine  outlines  of  deep  chasms  and  impending  rocks." 

There  is  also  a  district  named  Tarom,  or  Tarim,  bordering- 
on  the  Ozan,  and  occupying  the  intermediate  space  between 
Abhar  and  Chalcal.  This,  also,  is  but  a  little  removed  from 
Hara.  There  is,  however,  a  city  mentioned  by  Morier, 
which  has  a  much  better  claim  to  be  the  Hara  of  Scripture 
than  the  Tarom  of  Rennel.  This  is  called  Ahar,  and  is 
described  as  being  the  capital  of  the  district  of  the  Kara- 
Daghler,  or  black  mountains,  stretching  north  and  north-east 
to  the  Araxes  and  the  plain  of  Mogan,  and  placed  by  him 
forty  English  miles  north-east  of  Tabriz.     Ahar  is  exactly 


136  mSTOE-Y   OF    THE   MEDES. 

Hara  by  the  transposition  of  the  aspirate ;  and  a  transposition 
of  syllables  or  letters  in  words,  having  nearly  the  same  sound, 
is  usual  in  the  east ;  as,  Lezgee  for  Legzee,  Corbal  for  Col- 
bar,  Tilgath  for  Tiglath. 

Major  Rennel  conceives,  that  both  in  the  Assyrian  and 
Babylonish  captivity  of  the  two  remaining  tribes,  which  com- 
posed the  kingdom  of  Judah,  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  whole 
mass  of  the  people  was  not  carried  away,  but  only  the  princi- 
pal inhabitants,  as  the  nobles,  soldiers,  artizans,  merchants, 
and  men  of  letters,  who  would  be  useful  in  their  new  settle- 
ments, by  bringing  with  them  their  superior  knowledge  and 
skill  in  arts  and  manufactures.  That  some  of  the  captives 
rose  to  high  rank  and  estimation,  even  at  Nineveh,  Babylon, 
Ecbatana,  and  Rages,  the  seats  of  government  in  the  Assyrian, 
Chaldean,  and  Median  empires,  is  evident  from  the  books  of 
Daniel  and  Tobit. 

In  his  travels  through  the  western  part  of  the  Persian  em- 
pire, Sir  R.  Ker  Porter  mentions  a  remarkable  sculptured 
rock,  calleh  Be-Sitoon,  in  the  range  of  mountains  that  skirt 
the  plains  of  Kermanshah  to  the  north-east.  One  of  the 
groups  transcribed  thereon,  is  supposed  by  this  traveller  to 
refer  to  the  captivity.  In  it  there  are  fourteen  figures,  one  of 
which  is  in  the  air.  The  first  to  the  left  carries  a  spear,  and 
is  in  full  Median  habit.  His  hair  is  in  a  similar  fashion,  and 
bound  with  a  fillet.  The  second  holds  a  bent  bow  in  his  left 
hand :  his  dress  is  much  the  same,  with  the  addition  of  a 
quiver  slung  at  his  back  by  a  belt  crossing  his  right  shoulder, 
and  his  wrists  are  adorned  with  bracelets.  The  third  figure 
is  much  larger  than  any  in  the  group,  which  is  a  usual  sym- 
bol of  royalty  in  oriental  description,  and  from  its  air  and 
attitude  undoubtedly  denotes  a  monarch.  The  costume,  ex- 
cepting that  the  beard  is  not  quite  so  long,  is  precisely  that 
which  denotes  royal  dignity,  and  as  exhibited  in  the  has 
reliefs  of  Nakshi  Roostam  and  Persepolis,  that  of  the  pontifi' 
and  sovereign  combined  ;  the  robes  being  the  ample  vesture 
of  the  one,  and  the  diadem  the  simple  band  of  the  other. 
This  figure  has  also  bracelets  on  his  wrists,  and  is  holding 
up  his  hand  in  a  commanding  or  admonitory  manner ;  the 
two  forefingers  being  extended,  and  the  other  two  doubled 
down  in  the  palm ;  an  action,  also,  common  on  the  tombs  at 
Persepolis,  and  on  the  monuments.  In  his  left  hand,  a  bow 
is  grasped,  and  this  bow,  together  with  his  left  foot,  rests  on 
the  body  of  a  prostrate  captive,  who  hes  on  his  back,  with 
outstretched  arms,  as  if  imploring  mercy.     This  figure,  and 


HISTORY   OF   THE   MEDES.  137 

also  the  first  in  the  string  of  nine,  which  advance  towards  the 
king,  are  very  much  injured ;  but  enough  remains  to  show 
that  they  are  intended  to  signify  captives.  The  hands  of  all 
are  tied  behind  their  backs,  and  the  cord  is  very  distinct 
which  binds  the  neck  of  the  one  to  the  other,  till  the  mark  of 
bondage  reaches  to  the  last  of  the  nine.  If  it  were  originally 
attached  to  the  leader,  the  cord  is  now  not  to  be  seen  there, 
but  the  position  of  his  hands  show  that  he  was  origmally  in 
the  same  trammels  as  his  followers.  The  second  figure,  ap- 
parently, has  his  head  shaved,  and  a  sort  of  caul  covers  it 
from  the  top  of  the  forehead  to  the  middle  of  the  head.  His 
dress  is  a  short  tunic,  reaching  down  no  farther  than  his 
knees,  and  which  is  fastened  round  his  waist  by  a  bek  ;  his 
legs  are  bare.  The  third  figure  appears  much  older,  and  it 
has  rather  a  pointed  beard  and  bushy  hair,  and  a  similar  caul 
covers  the  top  of  his  head.  He  has  also  a  short  tunic,  with 
something  like  the  trowsers  or  booted  appearances  seen  on 
some  of  the  figures  at  Persepolis.  The  preceding  figure  and 
this  are  fastened  together  by  a  rope  round  their  necks,  running 
onwards,  and  noozing  all  that  follows  in  one  string.  This 
last  figure  has  the  peculiarity  attached  to  him  of  the  skirt  of 
his  garment  being  covered  entirely  with  an  arrow-headed  in- 
scription. Next  in  the  train  is  a  figure  in  a  long  vestment, 
with  full  hair,  without  the  caul.  He  is  succeeded  by  one  in 
a  short  plain  tunic,  wkh  naked  legs.  A  second  long-robed 
personage  succeeds  him,  and  after  him  comes  another  in  a 
short  plain  tunic,  and  a  head  apparently  bald.  A  third  long- 
robed  personage  follows  next,  and  the  ninth  figure,  who  fol- 
lows him,  is  in  a  short  tunic  and  trowsers,  and  has  the  singu- 
larity of  wearing  a  prodigious  and  high  pointed  cap.  His 
beard  and  hair  are  much  more  ample  than  any  of  his  com- 
panions, and  his  face  denotes  greater  age. 

This,  as  stated  before,  is  considered  by  Sir  R.  Ker  Porter 
to  refer  to  the  captivky.  He  conceives  that  the  large  figure 
represents  Shalmaneser,  king  of  Assyria,  and  the  prostrate 
captive,  Hoshea,  king  of  Israel.  This  prostrate  person  is  not 
a  private  individual,  for  on  none  such  would  the  foot  of  a 
haughty  eastern  monarch  deign  to  tread  ;  he  must,  therefore, 
have  been  a  captive  prostrate  monarch.  The  nine  captives 
are  doubly  bound,  in  token  of  a  double  offence ;  and  the  of- 
fence of  Hoshea  and  his  subjects  was  double.  He  had  pro- 
fessed homage  to  the  king  of  Assyria,  who  not  only  spared 
him,  but  confirmed  him  on  the  throne  of  Samaria.  He,  how- 
ever, ungratefully  rebelled,  being  stirred  up  by  So,  the  king 

12* 


138  HISTORY   OF   THE   MEDES. 

of  Egypt ;  and,  therefore,  the  double  badge  of  bondage  may- 
be supposed  to  represent  the  double  offence  of  Hoshea.  In- 
cluding the  fallen  monarch,  the  captives  are  just  ten,  repre- 
senting the  ten  tribes,  the  king  being  considered  as  the  head 
of  his  own  tribe.  The  last  personage  in  the  procession,  wear- 
ing the  high  conical  cap.  Sir  Robert  conceives  may  represent 
the  tribe  of  Levi,  who,  in  compliance  w^ith  the  wishes  of  the 
kings  of  Israel  and  Judah,  had  adopted  the  worship  of  the 
golden  calves  of  Dan  and  Bethel.  But  this  latter  conjecture 
is  entirely  unfounded.  Levi  was  not  one  of  the  ten  captive 
tribes  of  Israel :  it  counted  as  a  thirteenth  tribe  when  Joseph 
(Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  as  in  the  instance  of  the  captivity) 
counts  as  two  ;  and  the  number  ten  is  therefore  made  out 
w^ithout  Levi. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  w^hether  this  sculpture  refers  to 
the  captivity  or  not.  The  captives  have  that  peculiar  cast  of 
physiognomy  which  distinguishes  the  Jews,  and  the  supposi- 
tions of  our  author,  except  the  last,  render  it  probable.  Those, 
however,  who  hesitate  to  accept  it  as  an  illustration  of  the  cap- 
tivity, will,  nevertheless,  value  it  as  a  most  authentic  repre- 
sentation of  the  mode  in  which  captives  \vere  wont  to  be 
treated  by  oriental  conquerors,  and  to  which  there  are  fre- 
quent allusions  in  Scripture. 

ECBATANA. 

Ecbatana,  which  is  generally  thought  to  be  the  Achmetha 
of  Ezra,  chap.  vi.  2,  and  the  Hamadan  of  the  present  day, 
was  the  summer  capital  of  the  sovereigns  of  the  Persian  em- 
pire, from  the  time  of  Cyrus ;  while  the  winter  metropolis 
was  Susa.  The  situation  of  Ecbatana  was  remarkable  for  the 
coolness  of  its  temperature.  Delia  Valle  observes,  that  the  ink 
froze  in  the  room  in  which  he  was  writing  ;  a  sure  proof  of 
the  great  elevation  of  the  soil,  in  the  latitude  of  only  35°, 
which  is  farther  proved  from  the  great  mountain  Alwend,  the 
Orontes  of  the  Greeks,  only  a  league  distant,  being  covered 
with  snow.  The  periodical  change  of  residence  by  the  Per- 
sian kings,  attracted  the  attention  of  many  ancient  writers, 
and  one  of  them,  ^lian,  compares  them  to  cranes  for  this 
reason. 

Ancient  historians  tell  us.  that  Ecbatana  was  built  by  De 
joces.  called,  in  the  book  of  Judith,  Arphaxad,  the  first  king 
of  Media,  after  the  inhabitants  had  shaken  off  the  yoke  of  the 
Assyrians.     There  is  no  reason,  however,  to  think  that  De 


HISTORY   OF   THE    MEDES.  139 

joces  built  Ecbatana,  or  that  the  Medes  were,  in  his  days,  an 
uncivilized  and  barbarous  people.  There  can,  indeed,  be  no 
doubt  that  Ecbatana  was  a  city  long  before  the  days  either  of 
Dejoces  or  Phraortes.  The  natural  amenity  of  the  situation 
would  soon  point  it  out  to  the  natives  as  a  proper  place  for  a 
city  ;  and  when  Media  rose  to  a  state  of  political  independ- 
ence, from  the  beauty  and  strength  of  its  situation,  it  would 
naturally  be  selected  as  the  fittest  place  for  the  royal  residence. 

The  walls  of  Ecbatana  are  much  celebrated  by  ancient 
writers,  and  minutely  described  by  Herodotus.  According 
to  this  historian,  they  were  seven  in  number,  all  of  a  circular 
form,  and  gradually  rising  above  each  other,  by  the  height 
of  the  battlements  of  each  wall.  The  situation  of  the  ground, 
rising  by  an  easy  ascent,  was  very  favourable  to  the  design  of 
building  them,  and  perhaps  first  suggested  it.  The  royal 
palace  and  treasury  were  within  the  innermost  circle  of  the 
seven.  The  first  of  these  walls  was  equal  in  circumference 
to  the  city  of  Athens,  that  is,  according  to  Thucydides,  178 
furlongs,  or  about  twenty-four  miles.  This  wall  had  white 
battlements  ;  the  second,  black  ;  the  third  was  of  a  purple 
colour  ;  the  fourth,  blue  ;  and  the  fifth,  of  a  deep  orange ;  the 
two  innermost,  as  serving  more  immediately  for  a  fence  to  the 
person  of  the  king,  were  embellished  in  a  superior  manner 
to  the  others,  the  one  being  covered  with  silver,  and  the  other 
with  gold. 

This  description,  as  given  by  Herodotus,  seems  to  partake 
of  the  fabulous  ;  nevertheless,  that  it  was  one  of  the  most  mag- 
nificent of  oriental  cities,  other  authorities  declare.  In  the 
book  of  Judith,  chap.  i.  2 — 4,  we  read,  that  the  walls  of  this 
metropolis  were  seventy  cubits  (about  130  feet)  high,  and  fifty 
cubits  (about  94  feet)  broad  :  that  the  towers  on  the  gates 
were  an  hundred  cubits  (about  180  feet)  in  height  ;  the 
breadth,  in  the  foundation,  sixty  cubits  (about  112  feet) ;  and 
that  the  walls  were  built  of  hewn  and  polished  stones,  each 
stone  being  six  cubits  (about  eleven  feet)  in  length,  and  three 
in  breadth. 

Polybius,  speaking  of  Ecbatana,  says :  "  The  edifices  of 
this  city  surpass,  in  richness  and  magnificence,  all  others  in 
the  world.  The  king's  palace  is  700  fathoms  (nearly  one 
English  mile)  round.  Though  all  the  wood-work  was  of 
cedar  and  cypress,  not  the  least  piece  of  timber  was  visible  ; 
the  joints,  the  beams,  the  ceilings,  and  columns,  which  sus- 
tained the  porticos  and  piazzas,  being  covered  with  silver  or 
gold  plates.     All  the  tiles  were  of  silver.     The  greatest  part 


140  HISTORY    OF    THE    MEDES. 

of  these  materials  were  carried  off  by  the  Macedonians  under 
Alexander  the  Great,  and  the  rest' plundered  by  Antigonus 
and  Seleucus  Nicator.  When  Antiochus,  however,  entered 
this  kingdom,  the  temple  of  iEna  was  still  surrounded  with 
gilded  columns,  and  the  soldiers  found  in  it  a  great  number 
of  silver  tiles,  a  few  golden  bricks,  and  a  great  many  of  silver. 
All  this  was  converted  into  specie,  and  stamped  with  the 
spoiler's  image ;  the  whole  amounting  to  about  600,000/. 
sterling. 

The  present  town  of  Hamadan  stands  at  the  base  of  the 
Alwend  mountains,  and  at  the  extremity  of  a  rich  and  cuhi- 
vated  pkiin.  It  offers  no  intimations  of  its  ancient  dignity, 
though  it  is  still  an  imporUmt  town,  and  the  capital  of  a  con- 
siderable district,  governed  by  a  prince  of  the  royal  line.  The 
town,  though  seated  on  a  slope,  where  the  mountain  meets  the 
plains  below,  does  not  appear  to  stand  on  precisely  the  same 
site  as  tlie  ancient  Ecbatana,  which  is  described  as  being  upon 
a  circular  hill.  It  contains  about  9,000  houses,  and  45,000 
inhabitants,  GOO  families  of  which  are  Jews,  and  as  many  Ar- 
menians. 

Hamadan  is  a  place  of  pilgrima.ge  to  the  Jews,  on  account 
of  its  containing  a  tomb  alleged  to  be  that  wherein  Esther 
and  Mordecai  were  interred  ;  and  the  site  is  very  likely  to 
have  been  that  of  the  interment  of  one  or  both  of  those  per- 
sonages. This  tomb  is  mentioned  by  Benjamin  of  Tudela. 
It  stands  on  o^round  somewhat  more  elevated  than  any  in  the 
neighbourhood,  and  is  in  some  degree  fallen  into  decay. 
The  entrance  to  the  building  is  by  a  stone  door  of  small  di- 
mensions, the  key  of  which  is  kept  by  the  chief  rabbi.  This 
door  conducts  to  the  ante-chamber,  which  is  small,  and  con- 
tains the  graves  of  several  rabbis.  A  second  door,  of  inferior 
dimensions  to  the  first,  leads  to  the  tomb-chamber,  which  is 
larger  than  the  outer  apartment.  In  the  midst  of  this  stand 
the  two  sarcophagi  of  Mordecai  and  Esther.  They  are  com- 
posed of  dark  and  hard  wood,  are  richly  carved,  and  have  an 
Hebrew  inscription  along  the  upper  ledge,  taken  from  Esther 
ii.  5,  and  x.  3.  The  wood  is  in  good  preservation,  though 
evidently  very  old.  The  present  building  is  said  to  have 
been  built  by  certain  devout  Jews,  and  to  occupy  the  site  of 
one  more  magnificent,  which  was  destroyed  by  Timour  Beg. 
The  inscription  thereon,  as  translated  by  Sir  Gore  Ousely, 
runs  thus :  ''  Thursday,  fifteenth  of  the  month  Adar,  in  the 
year  4474  from  the  creation  of  the  world,  was  finished  the 
building  of  this  temple  over  the  graves  of  Mordecai  and  Es- 


HISTORY   OF    THE    MEDES.  141 

ther,  by  the  hands  of  the  good-hearted  brothers,  Elias  and 
Samuel,  the  sons  of  the  deceased  Ismael,  of  Kashan."  This 
date  is  probably  after  the  computation  of  the  eastern  Jews, 
which  would  make  it  answer  to  about  250  a.  d.  ;  otherwise, 
it  would  not  have  been  earlier  than  about  650  a.  d. 

The  following  are  the  translations  of  the  other  inscriptions, 
which  are  rendered  by  Sir  R.  Ker  Porter,  and  which  are 
very  interesting  : 

From  a  marble  slab  in  the  sepulchre. — "  Mordecai,  beloved 
and  honoured  by  a  king,  was  great  and  good.  His  garments 
\vere  those  of  a  sovereign.  Ahasuerus  covered  him  with  this 
rich  dress,  and  also  placed  a  golden  chain  around  his  neck. 
The  city  of  Susa  rejoiced  at  his  honours,  and  his  high  fortune 
became  the  glory  of  the  Jews. 

07L  the  sarcophagus  of  Mordecai. — "  It  is  said  by  David, 
Preserve  me,  O  God  !  I  am  now  in  thy  presence.  '  I  have 
cried  at  the  gates  of  heaven,  that  thou  art  my  God ;  and  what 
goodness  I  have  received  came  from  thee,  O  Lord. — Those 
Avhose  bodies  are  now  beneath  in  this  earth,  when  animated 
by  thy  mercy,  were  great ;  and  whatever  happiness  was  be- 
stowed upon  them  in  this  world  came  from  thee,  O  God  ! — 
Their  grief  and  sufferings  were  many  ;  but  they  became 
happy,  because  they  always  called  upon  thy  holy  name  in 
their  afflictions.  Thou  liftedst  me  up,  and  I  became  power- 
ful. Thine  enemies  sought  to  destroy  me  in  the  early  times 
of  my  life  ;  but  the  shadow  of  thy  hand  was  upon  me,  and 
covered  me,  as  a  tent,  from  their  wicked  purposes." — Mor- 
decai. 

From  the  sarcophagus  of  Esther.—''  I  praise  thee,  O  God, 
that  thou  hast  created  me.  I  know  that  my  sins  merit  punish- 
ment, yet  I  hope  for  mercy  at  thy  hands  :  for  whenever  I  call 
upon  thee,  thou  art  with  me;  thy  holy  presence  secures  me 
from  all  evil.— My  heart  is  at  ease,  and  my  fear  of  thee  in- 
creases. My  life  became  at  the  last,  through  thy  goodness, 
full  of  peace. — O  God  !  shut  not  my  soul  outYrom  thy  Divine 
presence.  Those  whom  thou  lovest  never  feel  the  torments 
of  hell.  Lead  me,  O  merciful  Father,  to  the  life  of  life,  that 
I  may  be  filled  with  the  heavenly  fruits  of  paradise!"-— 
Esther. 

According  to  Morier,  Hamadan  presents  more  objects  of 
research  to  an  antiquarian  than  any  other  city  in  Persia.  On 
the  eastern  summit  of  Alwend  is  a  large  square  platform, 
called  by  the  natives,  "  The  tomb  of  the  son  of  Solomon."  A 
number  of  copper  lamps  lie  scattered  in  its  vicinity,  which 


142  HISTORY   OF    THE    MEDES. 

were  brought  hither  by  crowds  of  devotees,  who  came  on  pil- 
grunages  to  this  fancied  tomb.  In  one  of  the  valleys  of  Al- 
wend,  about  eight  miles  south-west  of  the  town,  at  the  source 
of  a  rapid  rivulet  that  waters  the  plain,  about  fifty  feet  above 
the  water,  appears,  projecting  from  the  sloping  side  of  the 
acclivity,  the  mysterious  stone  called  the  Gunj  Nameh,  or 
Tales  of  a  Treasure.  It  is  an  immense  block  of  red  granite, 
of  the  closest  and  finest  texture,  and  of  many  thousand  tons' 
weight.  At  ten  feet  from  the  ground,  two  square  excavations 
appear  in  the  face  of  the  stone,  cut  to  the  depth  of  a  foot,  five 
feet  in  breadth,  and  as  many  in  length.  Each  of  these  tab- 
lets contains  three  columns  of  engraved  arrow-headed  writ- 
ing, in  a  state  of  excellent  preservation.  Above  these  two 
tablets,  the  commencement  of  others  are  traceable.  Another 
monument  of  antiquity  was  discovered,  by  Morier  and  Sir  R. 
Ker  Porter,  in  the  northern  skirts  of  the  city,  consisting  of 
the  base  of  a  column,  w^ith  its  broken  shaft,  of  the  same  order 
as  the  columns  found  at  Persepolis.  Near  this  fragment  is  a 
large  regular  terrace,  evidently  the  work  of  art,  and  perhaps 
the  ground  w^ork  of  some  great  building.  Some  identify  this 
with  the  palace  of  the  Persian  king,  which,  Polybius  says, 
was  below  the  citadel.  The  position  of  the  ruins  of  the  mo- 
dern castle,  which  was  probably  the  site  of  the  ancient  citadel, 
is  more  elevated  than  the  platform,  and  sufficiently  near  the 
latter  to  be  said  to  be  below  the  former.  On  the  site  of  the 
castle  is  a  small  platform,  called  Takht.  I.  Ardeshir,  which 
has  an  exterior  of  white  square  stones,  backed  by  masonry 
of  common  stone  and  mortar.  Besides  these,  Hamadan  con- 
tains a  great  number  of  Mohammedan  antiquities,  as  sepul- 
chral stones,  towers,  mosques,  old  bazars,  and  Cufic  inscrip- 
tions. Arsacidan  and  Sassanian  coins  are  also  to  be  found 
here ;  of  which  latter,  nine  Avere  brought  by  Sir  R.  Ker 
Porter  into  England.  Morier  discovered  a  cylindrical  stone, 
with  Persepolitan  figures  and  characters  on  it ;  and  he  sup- 
poses, that  if  excavations  were  permitted  to  be  made  on  what 
ne  deems  to  be  the  site  of  the  royal  treasury,  valuable  dis- 
coveries would  be  made. 

RAGES,    OR    REY. 

This  city  is  called,  by  Isidorus,  the  largest  city  in  Media. 
It  is  mentioned  in  the  books  of  Tobit  and  Judith  as  a  place 
of  consequence,  after  the  revolt  of  the  Parthians  against  the 
dynasty  of  Seleucus.  It  was  captured  by  Arsaces,  the  first 
of  the  Parthian  dynasty  of  sovereigns,  and  made  the  capital 


HISTORY   OF   THE   MEDES.  143 

of  his  empire.  From  him  it  was  called  by  the  new  name  of 
Arsacia.  It  became  a  great  and  flourishing  city  in  the  days 
of  the  Mohammedan  khalifs  of  Bagdad  ;  and  was  at  its  acme 
of  political  splendour  in  the  ninth  century,  when  it  contained, 
according  to  the  romantic  account  of  the  Mussulman  annal- 
ists, 16,600  baths,  15,000  mosques,  6,400  colleges,  12,000 
mills,  1,700  caravansaries,  and  13,000  inns.  It  was  ruined 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  partly  by  the  intestine  discord  of  its 
inhabitants,  who  were  divided  into  the  opposite  sects  of  the 
Shiites  and  Sunnites,  and  who  contended  with  each  other  for 
sixty  years  ;  and,  finally,  by  the  Mongols,  under  the  succes- 
sors of  Jenghis  Khan.  Nothing  now  remains  of  Rages  but 
part  of  the  ancient  wall. 

Rages  lay  upwards  of  two  hundred  miles  east  of  Ecbatana, 
or  Hamadan.  It  is  remarkable  in  history  for  the  defeat  and 
death  of  Arphaxad,  or  Phraortes,  son  of  Dejoces,  by  Nabu- 
chodonosor,  king  of  Assyria,  b.  c.  641,  in  the  plain  of  Ragau, 
or  Rages. 

Besides  these  cities  of  Media,  there  were  several  others,  as 
Laodicea,  of  which  appellation  there  were  many  towns  ;  and 
Apamea,  which  is  sometimes  adjudged  by  Strabo  to  Media, 
and  sometimes  to  Parthia.  At  a  later  date  there  were  the 
cities  of  Zombis,  Patigrau,  Gazaca,  Margasis,  etc. ;  but  these 
were  all  built,  in  after  ages,  by  the  Macedonians,  and  are 
therefore  called  by  Strabo,  Greek  cities.  These  were  suc- 
ceeded by  more  modern  cities :  thus  showing  the  ebb  and  flow 
of  the  tide  of  sublunary  affairs  ;  proclaiming  that  time  sweeps 
away  empires,  nations,  and  cities  from  the  face  of  the  earth ; 
and  admonishing  the  reader  to  seek  a  mansion  in  the  skies. 
A  poet  has  well  tuned  his  harp  to  the  following  strains : 

"  This  world  is  all  a  fleeting  show, 
For  man's  illusion  given  ; 
The  smile  of  joy,  the  tears  of  woe, 
Deceitful  shine,  deceitful  flow, — 
There's  nothing  true  but  heaven. 

**  And  false  the  light  on  glory's  plume, 
As  fading  hues  of  even; 
And  love,  and  hope,  and  beauty's  bloom, 
Are  blossoms  gathcr'd  from  the  tomb, — 
There's  nothing  bright  but  heaven. 

"  Poor  wanderers  of  a  stormy  day, 
From  wave  to  wave  we're  driven ; 
And  fancy's  flash,  and  reasons  ray, 
Serve  but  to  light  the  troubled  way. 
There's  nothinc-  caliu  but  heaven." 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  POLITY  OF  THE  MEDES. 


Our  knowledge  of  the  government  of  the  Medes,  in  the 
early  ages  of  the  world,  is  very  limited.  Originally,  how- 
ever, it  appears  to  have  been  monarchical,  like  that  of  other 
primitive  nations  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  they  possessed  kings 
of  their  own  in  the  earliest  ages.  This  state  of  things  lasted 
till  the  date  at  which  they  were  first  brought  under  the  yoke 
of  the  Assyrians.  When  under  this  yoke,  they  were  go- 
verned by  the  absolute  laws  of  the  Assyrian  monarchs  ;  and 
when  they  had  shaken  it  off,  which  they  did  about  b.c.  710, 
they  appear  to  have  modelled  their  form  of  government  upon 
the  despotic  principles  of  their  former  masters.  Their  kings 
became  absolute,  submitting  to  no  law,  and  claiming  equal 
respect  with  the  gods  themselves.  Their  own  word  was 
law ;  and,  as  they  were  thus  the  fountains  of  law,  they  were 
looked  upon  by  their  subjects  as  something  more  than  mortal. 

There  is  a  reference  to  the  royal  prerogative  of  infallibility 
in  the  Median  monarchs,  Dan.  vi.  8,  where  the  conspirators 
against  the  life  of  the  prophet  Daniel  are  represented  as  pray- 
ing thus  to  Darius :  "  Now,  O  king,  establish  the  decree,  and 
sign  the  writing,  that  it  be  not  changed,  according  to  the  law 
of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  which  altereth  not." 

How  tenacious  the  kings  of  Media  and  Persia  were,  in 
adhering  to  the  principles  of  their  decrees  or  laws,  may  be 
discerned  in  many  transactions  recorded  in  history,  of  which 
the  chapter  alluded  to  affords  a  notable  instance.  In  the  book: 
of  Esther,  also,  we  find  a  king  unable  to  recall  an  order  which 
he  had  made  for  the  massacre  of  the  Jews.  The  only  remedy 
he  had,  when  he  discovered  the  depths  of  iniquity  which  had 
brought  it  to  pass,  was  to  issue  a  counter  order,  allowing  the 
people  he  had  doomed  to  die  to  stand  upon  their  defence ;  in 


HISTORY   OF   THE   MEDES.  145 

other  words,  they  were  permitted  to  contend  with  and  kill 
those  who  were,  by  his  previous  unjust  decree,  bound  to  kill 
them ! 

Sometimes  these  monarchs  themselves  suffered  from  the 
infallibility  which  attended  their  laws,  as  did  also  their  sub- 
jects. Sir  J.  Malcolm  relates  a  memorable  instance  of  Aga 
Mahommed  Khan,  the  last  but  one  of  the  Persian  kings, 
which  well  illustrates  this.  After  alluding  to  the  instances 
in  the  books  of  Esther  and  Daniel,  he  says :  "  The  character 
of  the  power  of  the  king  of  Persia  has  undergone  no  change. 
The  late  king,  Aga  Mohammed  Khan,  when  encamped  near 
Shiraz,  said  he  would  not  move  till  the  snow  was  off  the  moun- 
tain in  the  vicinity  of  his  camp.  The  season  proved  severe, 
and  the  snow  remained  longer  than  was  expected ;  the  army 
began  to  suffer  distress  and  sickness,  but  the  king  said,  while 
the  snow  remained  upon  the  mountain  he  would  not  move  j 
and  his  word  was  law,  and  could  not  be  broken.  A  multi- 
tude of  laborers  were  collected,  and  sent  to  remove  the  snow: 
their  efforts,  and  a  few  fine  days,  cleared  the  mountain,  and 
Aga  Mohammed  Khan  marched.  This  anecdote  was  related 
to  me  by  one  of  his  principal  chiefs,  and  who  told  it  to  me 
with  a  desire  of  impressing  my  mind  with  a  high  opinion  of 
Aga  Mohammed  Khan,  who  knew,  he  observed,  the  sacred 
nature  of  a  word  spoken  by  the  king  of  Persia." 

The  crown  of  Media  was  hereditary,  and  the  Medes  paid 
their  monarchs  the  greatest  possible  respect.  Herodotus  says, 
that  they  deemed  it  a  very  great  offence  to  spit  or  to  laugh  in 
their  presence.  They  honoured  them  with  the  high  sound- 
ing title  of  "  Great  king,"  or  "  King  of  kings,"  which  was 
afterwards  adopted  by  the  Persian  monarchs,  and  their  proud 
successors,  the  Parthians.  When  they  appeared  in  public, 
which  was  not  often,  they  were  attended  by  musicians  and 
guards,  consisting  of  the  noblest  in  their  kingdom.  In  the 
field  of  battle,  their  wives,  children,  and  concubines  formed 
part  of  their  retinue,  as  is  usual  in  an  oriental  camp. 

WAR,    AE^TS,    ETC, 

The  Medes  were,  in  very  early  ages,  a  warlike  people. 
This  will  appear  from  their  history,  and  there  is  an  interest- 
ing allusion  to  their  warlike  disposition  in  the  prophecies  of 
Isaiah.  The  Almighty,  threatening  to  destroy  Babylon  by 
the  Medes,  says  by  his  prophet : 

VOL  IL  13 


146  HISTORY  OF  THE  MEDES. 

"  Behold,  I  will  stir  up  the  Medes  against  them, 
Which  shall  not  regard  silver  ; 
And  as  for  gold,  they  shall  not  delight  in  it. 
Their  bows  shall  also  dash  the  young  men  to  pieces ; 
And  they  shall  have  no  pity  on  the  fruit  of  the  womb : 
Their  eye  shall  not  spare  children." — Isa.  xiii.  17,  18. 

In  war,  the  Medes  poisoned  their  arrows  with  a  bituminous 
liquor  called  naphtha,  of  which  there  was  anciently  an  abun- 
dance in  Media,  Persia,  and  Assyria.  The  arrow  being 
steeped  in  it,  and  set  on  fire,  and  shot  from  a  slack  bow,  (for 
a  swift  and  violent  motion  lessened  its  malignity,)  burned  the 
flesh  with  such  violence,  that  water  rather  increased  than  ex- 
tinguished the  flame :  dust  alone  could  put  out  the  flame,  and 
alleviate  the  pain  it  occasioned.  Their  bows,  which  formed 
their  principal  weapon,  were  only  exceeded  in  size  and  strength 
by  those  of  the  Ethiopians,  and  were  well  fitted  to  be  used 
also  as  clubs.  They  measured  about  five  feet  six  inches  in 
length. 

Herodotus  attributes  to  the  Medes  the  custom  of  confirming 
alliances  with  the  blood  of  the  contracting  parties,  which  was 
practised  among  all  the  eastern  nations,  even  in  the  Roman 
times.  This  is  confirmed  by  Tacitus,  who  says,  that  when 
they  were  to  form  alliances,  they  used  to  tie  together  the 
thumbs  of  their  right  hands  till  the  blood,  starting  to  the  ex- 
tremities, was,  by  a  slight  incision,  drawn  forth.  Of  this  they 
mutually  partook ;  and  a  league  thus  confirmed,  was  esteemed 
most  awful,  as  being  mysteriously  solemnized  with  the  blood 
of  the  parties. 

This  offers  a  sad  picture  of  humanity  ;  but  prophecy  points 
to  the  day  when  the  blood  of  our  fellow  creatures  need  not 
be  even  thus  figuratively  drawn  to  insure  friendship  and 
amity — when  all  nations  shall  look  upon  each  other  as  the 
workmanship  of  one  common  Creator ;  as  brethren,  with 
whom  they  should  sojourn  on  earth  in  peace.  Glorious  will 
that  day  be,  when 

"  Love  shall,  in  one  delightful  stream, 
Through  every  bosom  flow  ; 
And  union  sweet,  and  fond  esteem, 
In  every  action  glow." 

With  reference  to  the  arts,  learning,  and  trade  of  the  Medes 
very  little  is  known.  Whether  they  ever  applied  themselves 
to  either  is  not,  indeed,  anywhere  recorded.     They  seemed 


HISTORY   OF   THE   MEDES.  147 

rather  to  have  delighted,  and  to  have  aimed  at  excellino-  in 
the  merciless  art  of  war.  In  the  arts  of  managing  the  war- 
like steed,  and  handling  the  bow,  they  surpassed  all  other 
nations;  as,  in  after  ages,  did  their  successors,  the  Per- 
sians. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  MEDIA. 


The  kingdom  of  Media  appears  to  have  teen  erected  about 
704  years,  b.  c.  Hitherto  it  had  been  a  province  of  the  kings 
of  Assyria ;  for  we  collect  from  Holy  Writ,  that  in  b.  c.  719, 
Shalmaneser,  king  of  Assyria,  transplanted  the  captive 
Israelites  into  various  districts  of  Media,  2  Kings  xvii.  6.  He 
must  therefore,  have  been,  at  that  time,  in  full  and  undisturbed 
possession  of  that  province.  It  was,  indeed,  in  the  year  b.  c. 
710,  that  the  Medians  became  first  disaffected  toward  the  As- 
syrian rule.  In  that  year,  they  revolted  from  Sennacherib, 
and  during  the  next  six  years  they  lived  without  a  king. 

During  this  time,  the  liberty  the  Medes  had  acquired  by 
their  valour  degenerated  into  licentiousness,  and  their  govern- 
ment not  being  well  established,  they  fell  into  a  kind  of 
anarchy  worse  than  their  former  subjection  ;  injustice,  vio- 
lence and  rapine,  prevailed  everywhere,  because  there  was  no 
one  possessed  of  power  sufficient  to  restrain  them,  or  authority 
sufficient  to  punish  the  offenders.  These  disorders  at  length 
induced  the  people  to  settle  a  form  of  government,  which 
rendered  the  state  more  flourishing  than  before. 

Herodotus  gives  the  following  account  of  the  change : 
"  There  was  a  man  among  the  Medes  of  the  name  of  Dejoces, 
son  of  Phraortes,  of  great  reputation  for  his  wisdom,  whose 
ambitious  views  were  thus  disguised  and  exercised.  The 
Medes  were  divided  into  different  districts,*  and  Dejoces  was 
distinguished  in  his  own,  by  his  vigilant  and  impartial  distri- 
bution of  justice.  This  he  practised  in  opposition  to  the 
general  depravity  and  weakness  of  the  government  of  his 
country,  and  while  conscious  that  the  profligate  and  the  just 

*  At  the  time  of  their  revolt  from  the  Assyrians,  the  Medes  consisted  of 
the  Busians,  Paratacenians,  Struchates,  Arazantines,  Budians,  and  Mages. 
These  states  were  independent  of  each  other,  and  governed  by  their  own 
magistrates. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   MEDES.  149 

must  ever  be  at  war  with  each  other.  The  Medes,  who  lived 
nearest  him,  to  signify  their  approbation  of  his  integrity,  made 
him  their  judge.  In  this  situation,  having  one  more  elevated 
in  view,  he  conducted  himself  with  the  most  rigid  equity. 
His  behaviour  obtained  the  highest  applause  of  his  country- 
men ;  and  his  fame  extending  to  the  neighbouring  districts, 
the  people  contrasted  his  just  and  equitable  decisions  with  the 
irregularity  of  their  own  corrupt  rulers,  and  unanimously  re- 
sorted to  his  tribunal,  not  suffering  any  one  else  to  determine 
their  litigations. 

"  The  increasing  fame  of  his  integrity  and  wisdom  con- 
stantly augmented  the  number  of  those  who  came  to  consult 
him.  But  when  Dejoces  saw  the  pre-eminence  which  he  was 
so  universally  allowed,  he  appeared  no  more  on  his  accus- 
tomed tribunal,  and  declared  that  he  should  sit  as  a  judge  no 
longer ;  intimating,  that  it  was  inconsistent  for  him  to  regu- 
late the  affairs  of  others,  to  the  neglect  and  injury  of  his  own. 
After  this,  as  violence  and  rapine  prevailed  more  than  ever  in 
the  different  districts  of  the  Mede5,  they  called  a  public  as- 
sembly to  deliberate  on  national  affairs.  As  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  collect,  they  who  were  attached  to  Dejoces  de- 
livered sentiments  to  this  effect: — 'Our  present  situation  is 
intolerable,  let  us  therefore  elect  a  king,  that  we  may  have 
the  advantage  of  a  regular  government,  and  continue  our 
usual  occupations,  without  any  fear  of  danger  or  molestation.' 
In  conformity  to  these  sentiments,  the  Medes  determined  to 
elect  a  king ;  and,  after  some  consultation  about  what  person 
they  should  choose,  Dejoces  was  proposed  and  elected  with 
universal  consent."  To  such  mean  and  discreditable  shifts 
will  the  ambitious  spirit  resort,  that  it  may  obtain  a  crown. 
But, 

"  Not  kings  alone : 
Each  villager  has  his  ambition  too : 
No  sultan  prouder  than  his  fettered  slave. 
Slaves  build  their  little  Babylons  of  straw — 
Echo  the  proud  Assyrian  in  their  hearts, 
And  cry,  'Behold  the  wonders  of  my  might  I' 
And  why  1  because  immortal  as  their  lord : 
And  souls  immortal  must  for  ever  heave 
At  something  great;  the  glitter,  or  the  gold; 
The  praise  of  mortals,  or  the  praise  of  Heaven." 

Young. 

Reader,  make  thou  thy  choice  of  the  praise  and  the  favour 
of  Heaven  ;  for  all  else  will  fail  thee  in  the  hour  of  death, 
and  in  the  day  of  judgment. 


160  HISTORY   OF   THE   MEDES. 


DEJOCES. 


Dejoces  was  no  sooner  invested  with  the  supreme  power, 
than  he  acted  as  a  tyrant,  though  the  rigour  he  practised  might 
to  a  certain  extent,  have  been  necessary  to  bring  the  nation 
into  any  order  or  discipline. 

The  first  act  of  his  government  was  the  requisition  of  a 
life-guard,  to  secure  his  person,  and  maintain  his  dignity. 
He  next  required  them  to  build  him  a  strong  and  magnificent 
palace ;  and  afterwards  to  build  the  royal  city  of  Ecbatana, 
which  is  placed  by  Major  Rennell  on  or  near  the  site  of  Ha- 
madan,  in  AlJebal.  (See  p.  1 38.)  After  the  city  was  finished, 
he  drew  the  main  body  of  the  people,  who  had  hitherto  lived 
in  villages,  to  reside  in  its  vicinity.  Being  persuaded,  how- 
ever, that  the  majesty  of  kings  is  most  respected  afar  off,  he 
withdrew  himself  from  public  view,  in  order  to  increase  the 
public  respect  and  veneration  for  his  person  and  government. 
He  was  almost  inaccessible,  and  invisible  to  his  subjects,  not 
suffering  them  to  speak  or  communicate  their  affairs  to  him 
but  through  his  official  servants,  by  whom  he  regularly  re- 
turned his  own  decisions.*  "  This,"  says  Herodotus,  '^was 
the  form  which  he  observed  in  judiciary  matters.  His  pro- 
ceeding," he  adds,  "with  regard  to  penal  offences,  was  thus: 
Whenever  he  heard  of  any  injury  being  perpetrated,  (and  for 
this  purpose  he  appointed  spies  and  informers  in  different  parts 
of  his  dominions,)  the  offender  was  first  brought  to  his  presence, 
and  then  punished  according  to  his  offence."! 

Ahhough  Dejoces  appears  to  have  acted  tyrannically  during 
his  rule,  he  was  nevertheless  a  great  and  wise  prince,  and  a 
blessing  to  his  country.  During  his  reign,  his  country  en- 
joyed the  profoundest  peace  and  tranquillity ;  and  he  never 
carried  war  into  the  territories  of  his  neighbours.  Accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Hales,  he  died  b.  c.  663,  after  a  reign  of  forty 

♦A  similar  policy  was  adopted  by  our  Norman  kings.  Henry  n.,  in- 
stead of  the  immediate  application  for  justice  to  the  king  himself  in  the 
Aula  regis,  or  "  great  court,"  that  constantly  attended  his  person,  insti- 
tuted two  other  courts  of  King's  Bench  and  Common  Pleas,  to  be  station- 
ary at  Westminster,  where  all  judicial  proceedings  were  henceforth  to  be 
conducted  by  pleading  before  the  judges.  By  this  regulation,  justice  was 
more  orderly  and  more  skilfully  administered. 

t  This,  also,  resembles  the  institution  of  itinerant  judges  of  assize,  who 
were  sent  on  circuits,  at  stated  periods,  to  take  "  cognizance  of  offences 
and  misdemeanors ;"  corresponding  to  the  "  spying  out,  or  obtaining  infor- 
mation of  such ;"  while  Achmetha,  or  Ecbatana,  the  capital,  became  the 
established  place  of  public  records  in  after  ages,  Ezra  vi.  2, 


HISTORY   OF   THE   MEDES.  151 

years.     He  was  succeeded  in  his  kingdom,  which  had  now 
become  powerful,  by 

PHRAORTES, 

who  is  the  Arphaxad  of  Scripture. 

Phraortes  was  a  martial  prince.  Not  being  satisfied  with 
the  kingdom  ef  Media,  left  him  by  Dejoces,  he  attacked  the 
Persians,  and,  defeating  them  in  a  decisive  battle,  brought 
them  under  subjection  to  his  empire.  After  this,  strengthened 
by  the  accession  of  the  Persian  forces,  he  attacked  other  na- 
tions, and  reduced  them,  one  after  another,  till  he  made  him- 
self master  of  almost  all  Upper  Asia. 

Elated  with  this  success,  he  invaded  the  Assyrians  of  Nine- 
veh, who,  though  at  this  period  weakened  by  the  defection  of 
their  allies,  were  still  very  powerful  in  themselves.  Nebu- 
chodonosor  raised  a  great  army  in  his  own  country,  and  sent 
ambassadors  to  a  great  many  nations  in  the  east,  to  require 
their  assistance.  They  refused  to  comply  with  his  demand, 
and  treated  his  ambassadors  with  ignominy ;  thus  plainly  de- 
claring, that  they  no  longer  regarded  the  power  of  his  once 
mighty  empire,  Judith  i.  5 — 11. 

Nabuchodonosor,  enraged  at  such  insolent  treatment,  swore 
by  his  "  throne  and  kingdom,"  that  he  would  be  revenged 
of  all  these  nations,  and  put  them  to  the  sword.  He  then  pre- 
pared for  battle  with  his  own  forces,  in  the  plain  of  Ragau.* 
I'his  soon  ensued,  and  it  proved  fatal  to  Phraortes.  He  was 
defeated,  his  cavalry  fled,  his  chariots  were  overturned,  and 
put  into  disorder,  and  Nabuchodonosor  gained  a  complete  vic- 
tory. Then  taking  advantage  of  the  confusion  of  the  Medes, 
he  entered  their  country,  took  their  cities,  pushed  on  his  con- 
quest even  to  Ecbatana,  forced  the  towers  and  the  walls  by 
storm,  and  gave  it  over  to  the  rapine  of  his  army.  The  un- 
fortunate Phraortes  himself,  who  had  escaped  into  the  moun- 
tains of  Ragau,  fell  at  length  into  the  hands  of  Nabuchodono- 

*  Ragau  is  a  large  and  extensive  plain  to  the  south  of  Teheran,  the 
present  capital  of  Persia.  It  extends  east  and  west  to  a  great  distance, 
and  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  mountains  of  Mazanderan,  supposed 
to  be  those  mentioned  in  the  text  as  the  "  mountains  of  Ragau ;"  and 
south  by  an  inferior  range  that  separates  it  from  the  western  limits  of  the 
Great  Salt  desert.  The  mountains  of  Manzanderan  are  very  difficult  of 
a,ccess  to  cavalry,  and  therefore  the  fittest  place  to  which  Phraortes  could 
have  fled  for  refuge  from  his  enraged  pursuer.  The  city  itself  is  men- 
tioned in  the  books  of  Tobit  and  Judith,  and  the  reader  will  find  it  de- 
scribed page  142  in  this  history. 


152  HISTORY  OF   THE   MEDES. 

sor,  who  caused  him  to  be  put  to  a  cruel  death.  After  that, 
he  returned  to  Nineveh,  and  for  four  months  feasted  and  di- 
verted himself  with  those  that  had  accompanied  him  in  his 
expedition. 

The  death  of  Phraortes  took  place  about  b.  c,  641,  and  he 
was  succeeded  in  his  kingdom  by  his  son, 

CYAXAUES  Lj  OE.    KAI  KOBAD, 

who  was  the  most  celebrated  of  the  Median  kings,  and,  ac- 
cording to  Dr.  Hales,  the  Ahasuerus  of  Scripture,  The  poet 
jEschylus,  and  the  Persian  historian  Mirkhond,  etc.,  agree  in 
representing  him  as  the  founder  of  the  second,  or  Kaianian 
dynasty.  The  former,  who  had  fought  against  the  Persians, 
in  the  battle  of  Marathon,  and  therefore  had  opportunities  of 
information,  introduces  the  ghost  of  Darius  Hystapes,  in  his 
tragedy  of  Persae,  thus  describing  the  several  kings  of  Per- 
sia, from  the  Median  founder  to  his  own  son,  Xerxes : — 

"  Asia's  brave  hosts 
A  Mede*  first  led.     The  virtues  of  his  sont 
Fixt  firm  the  empire  j  for  his  temperate  zeal 
Breathed  prudence.     Cyrixs  third;  by  fortune  graced, 
Adorned  the  throne,  and  blessed  his  grateful  friends 
With  peace.     He  to  his  mighty  monarchy 
Joined  Lydia  and  the  Phrygians ;  to  his  power 
Ionia  bent  reluctant,  but  the  gods 
"With  victory  his  gentle  virtues  crowned. 
His  son§  then  wore  the  regal  diadem. 
Next  to  disgrace  his  country,  and  to  stain 
The  splendid  glories  of  the  ancient  throne, 
Rose  Mardus.ll     Him  with  righteous  vengeance  fired^ 
Artaphranes,  and  his  confederate  chiefs 
Crushed  in  his  palace.     Maraphis^  assumed 
The  sceptre.     After  him  Artaphrcnes** 
Meif  next,  to  the  exalted  eminence, 
Crowning  my  great  ambition  fortune  raised. 
In  many  a  glorious  field,  my  glittering  spear 
Flamed  in  the  van  of  Persia's  numerous  hostsj 
But  never  wrought  such  ruin  in  the  state 
As  XerxesU  my  son.     He,  in  all  the  pride  of  youth. 
Listens  to  youthful  counsels,  my  commands 
No  more  remembered  :  hence,  my  hoary  friends, 
Not  the  whole  line  of  Persia's  sceptred  lords, 
(You  know  it  welO  so  wasted  her  brave  sons." 

Potter's  Msckyujs, 


*  Cyaxares.  t  Astyages.  t  Cyrus. 

§  Cambyses.  II  Sjuerdis  Magus.  IT  Blaraphis. 

'■*  Artaphernes.  tt  Darius  Hystaspcs,      i|  Xerves. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   MEDES.  153 

It  is  supposed  that  in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Cyax- 
ares,  or  b.  c.  640,  that  the  army  of  Nebuchodonosor  was  de- 
feated in  the  plains  of  Bethulia.  Cyaxares,  who  had  well 
established  himself  on  the  throne  of  Media,  and  was  master 
of  Upper  Asia,  knew  how  to  turn  this  event  to  his  account. 
Before  they  had  recovered  from  the  consternation  into  which 
they  were  thrown,  eager  to  revenge  his  father's  defeat  and 
death,  he  marched  upon  and  laid  siege  to  Nineveh,  defeating 
the  Assyrian  army  who  came  out  to  oppose  him. 

The  city  was  on  the  point  of  falling  into  his  hands,  when 
he  was  obliged  to  raise  the  siege,  by  reason  of  a  Scythian  in- 
vasion and  victory  as  here  related  by  Herodotus :  "  When 
Cyaxares  was  engaged  in  the  siege  of  Nineveh,  he  was  sur- 
prised by  an  army  of  Scythians,  commanded  by  Madyas,  son 
of  Protothyas.  Having  expelled  the  Cimmerians*  from 
Europe,  the  Scythians  had  found  their  way  into  Asia,  and, 
continuing  to  pursue  the  fugitives,  had  arrived  at  the  terri- 
tories of  the  Medes. 

"  From  the  lake  Mcstis  an  expeditious  traveller  may  pass  to 
the  river  Phasis,  among  the  Colchians,  in  the  space  of  thirty 
days,  [Major  Rennell,  says  twenty :]  it  requires  less  time  to 
pass  into  Media  from  Colchis,  which  are  only  separated  by 
the  nation  of  the  Saspirians.  The  Scythians,  however,  did 
not  come  by  this  route,  but  leaving  Mount  Caucasus  on  the 
right,  passed  through  the  high  country  by  a  much  longer  one. 
Here  they  met  with  the  Medes,  who,  in  a  fixed  battle,  lost  not 
only  the  Victory,  but  the  empire  of  Asia." 

The  Scythians  retained  the  dominion  of  Asia  for  twenty- 
eight  years,  when  they  lost  it  by  their  licentiousness  and  neg- 
lect. At  a  feast,  to  which  they  were  invited  by  Cyaxares 
and  the  Medes,  the  greatest  part  of  them  were  cut  ofi'  when  in 
a  state  of  intoxication,  and  the  Medes  thus  recovered  their  pos- 
sessions and  ancient  importance. 

The  Scythians  who  were  not  at  the  feast,  having  heard  of 
the  massacre  of  their  countrymen,  fled  into  Lydia  to  king 
Alyattes,  who  received  them  with  humanity.  This  gave  rise 
to  a  war  between  the  Median  and  Lydian  monarchs,  which 
raged  more  or  less  fiercely  for  five  years. 

*  Larcher  says  :  "  The  history  of  the  Scythians  is  remarkably  obscure. 
Justin,  speaking  of  the  incursions  of  this  people  into  Asia,  sometimes  co- 
incides with  Herodotus ;  at  others  materially  contradicts  him.  Strabo 
makes  a  slight  mention  of  this  expedition  of  Madyas;  but  I  am  ignorant 
by  what  authority  he  makes  him  king  of  the  Cimmerians;  1  should 
rather  think  a  mistake  has  been  made  by  some  copyist." 


154  HISTORY  OF   THE   MEDES. 

The  Lydian  war  commenced,  b.  c.  608,  about  which  time, 
probably,  Cyaxares,  and  his  ally,  Nabopolassar,  king  of  Ba- 
bylon, renewed  the  siege  of  Nineveh,  and  took  it,  b.  c.  60G, 
as  related  in  the  history  of  the  Assyrians,  page  112. 

During  the  Lydian  war  many  battles  were  fought  with 
equal  success  on  both  sides.  In  the  sixth  year,  however,  b.  c. 
603,  it  was  brought  to  a  crisis.  During  an  obstinate  battle, 
says  Herodotus,  the  day  suddenly  became  night.  Thales, 
the  Milesian,  had  foretold  this  alteration,  or  eclipse,  to  the  lo- 
nians.  The  Lydians  and  Medes,  seeing  darkness  take  the 
place  of  hght,  desisted  from  the  sanguinary  strife,  and  showed 
an  inclination  on  both  sides  to  come  to  terms  of  peace.  Syen- 
nesis,  king  of  Cilicia,  and  Nabopolassar,  king  of  Babylon, 
seeing  this,  acted  as  mediators  ;  and  they  expedited  the  trea- 
ty, and  confirmed  it  by  a  marriage,  persuaded,  that  treaties 
cannot  be  lasting,  without  a  powerful  bond  of  union.  They 
engaged  Alyattes  to  give  Aryenis,  his  daughter,  in  marriage 
to  Astyages,  the  son  of  Cyaxares. 

Two  years  after,  b.  c.  601,  Cyaxares  died,  and  he  was  suc- 
ceeded in  his  kingdom  by 

ASTYAGES,    OR    KAI   KAUS, 

who,  according  to  iEschjdus,  Herodotus,  and  several  oriental 
historians,  was  the  son  of  Cyaxares,  though  others  say  the 
grandson. 

The  reign  of  Astyages  was  very  extended,  continuing  for 
thirty-five  years,  or  till  b.  c.  566.  But  though  his  reign  was 
thus  long,  there  are  no  particulars  handed  down  to  us,  worthy 
of  credit,  respecting  it,  except  his  repulsing  the  Babylonians, 
who,  under  the  conduct  of  Evil  Merodach,  the  son  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, had  made  an  inroad  into  his  territories. 

Astyages  had  two  children,  whose  names  are  famous  in 
history :  these  were,  Cyaxares,  by  his  wife  Aryenis,  and  Man- 
dane,  by  a  former  marriage.  Mandane  was  married,  during 
her  father's  lifetime,  to  Cambyses,  the  son  of  Achemenes, 
king  of  Persia,  from  which  union  sprang  the  celebrated 
Cyrus. 

Herodotus  represents  Astyages,  during  the  course  of  his 
reign,  as  foolish,  mad,  and  infatuated.  His  accounts  of  his  ac- 
tions, however,  are  a  tissue  of  the  strangest  absurdities  and  con- 
trarieties, refuting  themselves.  They  are,  moreover,  in  opposi- 
tion to  iEschylus,  Xenophon,  Josephus,  the  Persian  historians, 


HISTORY   OF   THE   MEDES.  155 

and,  above  all,  to  Scripture  ;  and  therefore  they  are  omitted  in 
these  pages.     Astyages  was  succeeded  in  his  kingdom  by 

CYAXAlRES   II.,  FRAIBORZ,    OR    DARIUS   THE   MEDE, 

who  came  to  the  throne  at  the  age  of  forty-nine  years.  Of 
this  prince.  Dr.  Hales  says,  "  Being  naturally  of  an  easy,  in- 
dolent disposition,  and  fond  of  his  amusements,  he  left  the  bur- 
den of  military  affairs,  and  the  care  of  the  government,  to  Cy- 
rus, his  nephew  and  son-in-law,  who  married  his  only  daugh- 
ter, and  was  therefore  doubly  entitled  to  succeed  him."  In 
his  latter  days,  indeed,  he  seems  to  have  been  governed  by 
his  nephew  and  heir,  Cyrus,  "  by  that  ascendancy  which 
great  souls  have  always  over  little  ones." 

In  the  thirteenth  year  of  his  reign,  or  b.  c.  553,  Belshazzar 
having  been  slain,  Darius  succeeded  him  on  the  throne  of 
Babylon.  The  first  act  of  his  sovereignty,  according  to  Be- 
rosus,  was  the  appointment  of  Nabonadius,  a  Babylonian  no- 
bleman, not  allied  to  the  royal  family,  to  be  king,  or  viceroy, 
under  him,  according  to  the  established  policy  of  the  Modes 
and  Persians,  to  conciliate  the  good- will  of  his  new  subjects, 
in  leaving  them  to  be  governed  by  a  native  prince. 

Home,  remarking  on  the  truth  with  which  the  characters 
of  kings  are  delineated  in  the  book  of  Daniel,  observes,  that 
Xenophon  "  represents  Cyaxares  as  weak  and  pliable,  but  of 
a  cruel  temper,  easily  managed  for  the  most  part,  yet  ferocious 
in  his  anger.  Is  not  this  Darius  ?  the  same  Darius  who  al- 
lowed his  nobles  to  make  laws  for  him,  and  then  repented  ?— 
suffered  Daniel  to  be  cast  into  the  lion's  den,  and  then  spent 
a  night  in  lamentation  for  him ;  and  at  last,  in  strict  confor- 
mity with  Xenophon's  description,  condemned  to  death  not 
only  his  false  counsellors,  but  also  their  wives  and  children  ?" 

This  is  one  of  the  remarkable  coincidences  in  which  the 
writings  of  profane  and  sacred  historians  harmonize. 

Daniel,  who  contributed  so  materially  to  the  accession  of 
Darius,  was  naturally  in  high  favour  with  him.  According- 
ly, on  his  next  appointment  of  the  presidents  of  the  provinces, 
he  set  Daniel  at  their  head,  and  designed,  on  account  of  his 
consummate  wisdom,  to  set  him  over  the  whole  united  realm, 
Dan.  vi.  1—3. 

But  worldly  distinctions  are  not  a  bower  of  roses,  under 
which  the  possessor,  though  pious  and  upright,  may  rest  with- 
out fear  of  being  disturbed.  And  so  Daniel  found.  His  ele- 
vation and  integrity  aroused  the  jealousy  of  those  beneath 


iB$  ItlSTORY   OF   THE    MEDES'. 

him,  (for  it  is  a  strong  desire  to  be  above,  which,  makes  peo- 
ple uneasy  beneath.)  and  they  confederated  against  him.  At 
first,  they  sought  for  some  occasion  in  his  public  conduct,  that 
they  might  accuse  him  ;'  but  they  sought  in  vain :  his  probity, 
diligence,  and  faithfulness  to  the  duties  of  his  function,  were 
perfect.  Having  thus  no  fault  against  him,  they  determined 
to  make  his  piety  the  matter  of  accusation,  and  for  (his  pur- 
pose they  plotted  a  very  artful  scheme.  It  Avas  the  practice 
of  Daniel,  amidst  all  the  worldly  cares  that  pressed  upon  him^ 
to  retire  to  his  chamber,  which  looked  towards  Jerusalem,  to 
pray,  three  times  a  day.  This  his  enemies  knew  ;  and  they 
were  well  assured,  also,  that  he  would  not  forego  his  practice, 
though  death  should  stare  him  in  the  face.  They  therefore 
proposed  a  decree  to  Darius,  to  this  effect— That  whosoever 
should  ask  any  petition  of  God  or  man  for  thirty  days,  save 
of  the  monarch  himself,  should  be  cast  into  a  den  of  lions. 
To  this  proposal,  so  flattering  to  the  vanity  of  an  ambitious 
spirit,  without  suspecting  their  intentions,  Darius  consented. 
He  signed  the  decree,  and  by  that  act  it  was  made 

"  Irrevocable  as  the  steilfast  law 
Of  Mede  and  Persian,  Which  can  never  change.'' 

Human  prudence  would  have  dictated  the  expediency  of 
refraining  prayer  till  thirty  days  had  passed  away.  But  Dan- 
iel was  not  left  to  the  guidance  of  so  pitiful  a  taper  as  human 
prudence.  On  his  soul  the  light  of  religion  shed  its  refulgent 
rays :  he  well  knew  that  God  could  protect  him  from  danger, 
or,  if  he  saw  proper  to  permit  him  to  sufTer,  would  take  him 
to  himself.  When  he  heard  of  the  decree,  he  neither  discon- 
tinued  his  practice,  nor  made  a  secret  of  his  devotions.  This 
his  adversaries  soon  discovered,  and  the  report  was  laid  before 
Darius.  The  misguided  monarch  now  saw  the  error  into 
which  he  had  fallen,  and  he  endeavoured  to  save  his  faithful 
minister :  but  it  was  too  late  ;  the  edict  could  not  be  reversed, 
and  his  accusers  were  clamorous  for  his  execution.  The 
monarch,  therefore,  gave  the  order,  expressing  this  assurance 
to  Daniel,  when  he  was  thrown  into  the  den  of  lions,  "  Thy 
God  whom  thou  servest  continually,  he  will  dehver  thee," 
Dan.  vi.  10—17. 

The  next  morning,  after  a  night  of  mourning  and  flisting, 
the  king  arose  very  early,  and  went  in  haste  to  the  den  of 
lions :  and  when  he  came  to  if,  he  cried  to  Daniel ;  "  O  Daniel, 
servant  of  the  living  God,  is  thy  God,  whom  thou  servest 


HISTORY   OF    THE    MEDES,  157 

coniltiiially,  able  to  dcli\'er  thee  from  the  lions  ?"  The  prophet 
answered  triumphantly  in  the  affirmative:  "My  GJod  hath 
sent  his  angel,  and  hath  shut  the  lions'  months,  that  they  have 
not  hurt  me :  forasmuch  as  before  him  innocency  was  found 
in  me ;  and  also  before  thee,  O  king,  have  I  done  no  hurt." 

The  king  was  exceeding  glad  ;  and  he  retaliated  the  same 
punishment  upon  his  accusers,  their  wives,  and  their  children  ; 
whom  the  lions  instantly  devoured,  breaking  their  bones  to 
pieces  before  they  reached  the  bottom  of  the  den,  ver.  18 — 24. 

Darius  now  made  a  decree  in  honour  of  the  religion  of  Dan- 
iel, in  which  he  acknowledged  the  God  of  Daniel,  to  be  the 
only  living  God  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  ver.  25 — 28. 

Soon  after  this,  b.  c.  551,  Cyaxares  died,  and  the  kingdom 
of  Media,  etc.,  became  united  to  that  of  Persia,  under  the  rule 
of '-Cyrus  the  Persian," 

Thus  kingdoms  pass  away,  and  kingdoms  rise, 
Casting  their  shadowy  forms  before  our  eyes  : 
So  let  them  pass :  for  in  the  skies  there's  one, 
That  has  no  need  of  moon  or  of  the  sun, 
And  that  will  last  for  aye  !     To  this  fair  seat 
Turn,  pilgrim  wand'rer  on  this  earth,  thy  feet. 
Hark  !  from  on  high  a  gentle  voice  says,  '  Conae  !' 
It  is  thy  Saviour's — make  it  then  thy  home. 


VOL.  II.  14 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  THE   LYDIANS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  PHYSICAL  HISTORY  OF  LYDIA. 


Whence  this  country  obtained  the  name  of  Lydia  is  not 
determined.  According  to  a  tradition  of  the  people  who  in- 
habited it,  as  quoted  by  Josephus,  it  was  from  Lud,  the  fourth 
son  of  Shem.  Ancient  writers,  however,  tell  us,  that  Lydia 
was  first  called  Msconia,  or  Meonia,  from  Meon,  king  of 
Phrygia  and  Lydia,  and  that  it  was  known  by  that  name  till 
the  reign  of  Atys,  when  it  was  called  Lydia,  from  his  son 
Lydus.  Bochart,  finding  in  his  collection  of  Phenician 
words,  the  verb  Luz,  which  signifies  "  to  wind,"  and  observ- 
mg  that  the  country  is  watered  by  the  Meander,  so  famous 
for  its  windings,  concludes  that  it  was  thence  named  Lydia, 
or  Ludia.  To  support  this  hypothesis,  he  contends,  that  the 
Phenicians,  and  after  them  Moses,  who  in  the  descriptions  of 
countries  made  use  of  their  terms,  gave  the  name  of  Lud,  not 
only  to  Lydia  on  the  banks  of  the  Meander,  but  likewise  to 
Ethiopia,  where  the  Nile,  according  to  Herodotus,  has  as 
many  windings  as  the  Meander  itself  As  these  two  coun- 
tries, therefore,  lying  on  the  two  most  winding  rivers  known 
to  the  ancients,  were  named  Lud,  which  signifies  "  to  wind," 
who  can  doubt,  says  he,  that  they  derived  their  common  de- 
nomination from  the  rivers  which  watered  them  ?  With  re- 
ference to  the  ancient  name  Meonia,  he  conceives  it  is  a  Greek 
translation  of  the  Phenician  word  Lud,  which  is  partly  borne 
out  by  Stephanus,  who  derives  the  name  of  Meonia  from 
Meon,  the  ancient  name  of  the  Meander.     Some  imagine  the 


HISTORY  OF   THE  LYDIANS.  159 

word  Meonia,  to  be  a  translation  of  a  Hebrew  word  signify- 
ing "  metal,"  because  that  country  was,  in  ancient  times,  cele- 
brated for  its  mines. 

The  country  of  Lydia  was  situated  in  Asia  Minor.  Its 
boundaries  cannot  be  distinctly  defined,  they  having  diifered 
at  various  times.  Under  the  Roman  empire,  it  was  bounded 
on  the  south  by  Caria,  from  which  it  was  separated  by  the 
river  Meander  ;  on  the  north,  by  a  range  of  mountains  known 
under  the  name  of  Sardene,  which  divided  it  from  Mysia  ;  on 
the  east,  by  Phrygia  ;  and  on  the  west,  by  the  iEgean  ; 
though  the  tract  of  country  along  the  coast  was  more  com- 
monly known  by  the  name  of  Ionia.  What  the  ancients  de- 
nominate the  kingdom  of  Lydia  was  not,  however,  confined 
between  these  narrow  boundaries,  but  extended  from  the  river 
Halys  to  the  ^gean  sea.  Pliny's  description  includes  ^lia, 
lying  between  the  Hermus  and  Caicus,  a  river  of  Mysia ;  but 
this  does  not  appear  to  be  correct. 

Lydia  was  intersected  by  mountain  ranges,  running  from 
east  to  west ;  of  which  the  principal,  called  Messogis  by 
Strabo,  is  a  branch  of  Taurus,  and  forms  the  northern  boun- 
dary of  the  valley  of  Meander.  Another  chain  of  mountains, 
known  to  the  ancients  under  the  name  of  Tmolus,  runs  paral- 
lel to  the  Messogis,  through  the  centre  of  the  country,  and 
terminates  on  the  western  coast,  opposite  the  island  of  Chios. 
A  branch  of  Tmolus,  called  Sipylus,  stretches  more  to  the 
north-west,  towards  the  towns  of  Cuma  and  Phocsea.  The 
chain  of  mountains  separating  Lydia  from  Mysia  appears  to 
be  a  continuation  of  the  northern  range,  knoAvn  in  Bithynia 
by  the  name  of  Olympus,  and  in  Mysia  iDy  Ida  and  Temnoa. 

Lydia  was  thus  divided  into  two  valleys ;  the  southern  be- 
tween Messogis  and  Tmolus,  through  which  the  Caystrus 
flows ;  and  the  northern,  between  Tmolus  and  Sardene, 
watered  by  the  Hermus  and  its  tributaries,  the  Hyllus,  Pac- 
tolus,  and  Coganus.  The  former  of  these  valleys  is  of  mode- 
rate extent ;  but  the  latter  forms  a  plain  of  great  magnitude. 

MOUNTAINS. 

The  principal  mountains  of  Lydia  are  the  Tmolus,  now 
called  by  the  Turks,  Bouz  Dagh,  or  the  Cold  Mountain,  and 
the  Sipylus.  The  former  is  chiefly  noted  for  its  producing 
the  herb  safTron  ;  the  latter  is  celebrated  in  heathen  mytho- 
logy. It  is  said,  that  the  goddess  Sipylene,  worshipped  an- 
ciently by  the  pagan  inhabitants,  derived  her  name  from  it ; 


160  HISTORY   OF    THE    LYDlANS. 

or  rather,  it  was  Cybele  herself  who  was  so  called,  because 
here  worshipped  in  a  particular  manner.  Hence,  on  the  re- 
verse of  almost  all  the  medals  of  ancient  Magnesia,  Cybele  is 
represented  sometimes  on  the  frontispiece  of  a  temple  with 
four  pillars,  and  sometimes  in  a  chariot.  Plutarch  says,  that 
Mount  Sipylus  was  also  called  Ceraunius,  or,  the  "'  Thun- 
dering Mountain,"  because  it  thundered  more  frequently 
there  than  on  any  other  mountain  of  Asia.  Hence,  also,  on 
the  reverse  of  some  of  the  Magnesian  medals,  is  found  Jupiter 
armed  with  thunderbolts.  l^ausanius  declares  that  Jupiter 
was  buried  on  this  mountain,  and  that  he  saw  his  monument ! 
He  also  climbed  the  mountain,  in  hopes  of  discovering  the 
rock  into  which  Niobe  had  been  turned  I  So  much  were  the 
ancient  writers  given  to  the  fabulous. 

RIVERS. 

Some  of  the  rivers  of  Lydia  demand  a  notice  ;  though  it 
must  be  said  of  them,  that  they  are  more  celebrated  in  the 
pages  of  ancient  writers  than  many  other  rivers  more  worthy 
of  notice. 

Meander. — This  river  had  its  rise  near  Celcenas,  in  Phry- 
gia,  and  flowed  through  Caria  and  Ionia,  into  the  ^gean 
Sea,  receiving  in  its  course  the  waters  of  the  Marsyas,  Lycus, 
Eudon,  Lethccus,  etc.  It  is  celebrated  by  the  ancient  poets 
for  its  windings,  from  whence  it  derived  its  name,  and  which 
amount  to  six  hundred.  Lucan,  describing  the  nations  that 
took  part  with  Pompey,  says : — 

*'  Then  Stryraon*  was  forsook,  whose  wintry  flood, 
Commits  to  warmer  Nile  his  feathered  brood ; 
Then  bands  from  Cone,  and  from  Peucet  came, 
Where  Ister  loses  his  divided  stream:  * 

Prom  Idalis  where  cold  Caicus  flows,t 
And  where  Arisbe,§  thin,  her  sandy  surface  strews; 
From  Pytane  and  sad  Celaenag'sll  walls. 
Where  now  in  streams  the  vanquish'd  Marsyas  falls ; 


*  Strymon  was  a  river  of  Thrace,  whose  banks  abounded  with  cranes, 
it  is  now  called  Ischar  in  the  European  Turkey. 

t  These  were  two  islands  amongst  the  mouths  of  the  Ister,  or  Danube. 

:  Commentators  explain  the  Tdlns  llalis  in  this  place,  to  be  the  terri- 
tory about  Mount  Ida,  which  must  be  a  mistake :  for  Caicus  is  a  river  in 
Musia,  Major,  a  great  way  distant  from  Ida. 

§  A  town  in  Troas. 

II  Pytane  was  a  town  near  the  river  Caicus,  and  Celaenae  was  a  city 
near  the  head  of  the  river  Marsyos :  the  fabulous  story  of  which  is,  that 
Marsyas,  a  celebrated  piper  of  Celaense,  found  the  pipes  Pallas  had 
thrown  away  in  disdain,  and  pragmatically  set  up  for  as  good  a  musician 


HISTORY  OF   THE   LYDIANS.  161 

Still  his  lamenting  progeny  deplore 

Minerva's  tuneful  gift  and  Phoebus'  power : 

While  through  steep  banks,  his  torrent  swift  he  leads, 

And  with  Meander  winds  among  the  meads." — Book  ill. 

According  to  some  authors,  Dcedalus  owes  the  first  idea  of 
his  famous  labyrinth  to  the  river  Meander,  to  which  we  find 
a  reference  in  Ovid's  Metamorphoses. 

"  As  soft  Meander's  wanton  current  plays, 
When  through  the  Phrygian  fields  he  loosely  strays : 
Backward  and  forward  rolls  the  dimpled  tide. 
Seeming,  at  once,  two  differeut  ways  to  glide ; 
While  circling  streams  their  former  banks  survey, 
And  waters  past  succeeding  waters  see  : 
Now  floating  to  the  sea  with  downward  course, 
Now  pointing  upward  to  its  ancient  source. 
Such  was  the  work,  so  intricate  the  place, 
That  scarce  the  workman  all  its  turns  could  trace : 
And  Daedalus  was  puzzled  how  to  find 
The  secret  ways,  of  what  himself  designed." — Book  viii. 

Caystrus. — This  is  a  rapid  river  of  Asia,  rising  in  Lydia, 
which,  after  a  meandering  course,  falls  into  the  ^Egean  sea, 
near  Ephesus.  Like  the  Meander,  it  is  celebrated  in  the 
pages  of  the  ancient  poets,  who  say,  that  its  banks  and  neigh- 
bourhood were  the  resort  of  the  "stately  saihng  swan." 
Thus,  in  the  story  of  Phaeton,  Ovid  says  : — 

"  The  swans,  that  on  Cayster  often  tried 
Their  tuneful  songs,  now  sung  their  last,  and  died." — Book  i. 

Hermus. — This  river  is  thought  to  originate  in  the  western 
extremity  of  the  central  plateaus  of  Asia  Minor.  It  flows 
near  Sardes,  and  receives  the  waters  of  the  Pactolus  and 
Hyllus  ;  after  which  it  falls  into  the  ^gean  sea.  According 
to  the  poets,  its  sands  were  covered  with  gold.  Thus,  Virgil, 
celebrating  the  fertility  of  Italy,  says  : — 

"  But  neither  Median  woods,  (a  pleasant  land,) 
Fair  Ganges,  Hermus  rolling  golden  sand, 
Nor  Bactria,  nor  the  richer  Indian  fields, 
Nor  all  the  gummy  stores  Arabia  yields, 
Nor  any  foreign  earth  of  greater  name, 
Can  with  sweet  Italy  contend  in  fame."--GEORG.  ii. 

JJalys. — The  Halys,  now  the  Kizil-Ermak,  is  described  as 
taking  its  rise  by  two  branches  in  the  liigher  ranges  of  the 

as  Apollo,  by  whom  he  was  first  vanquished  and  then  flayed.  Some 
compassionate  nymphs,  however,  who  loved  his  music  better  than  that  of 
Apollo,  turned  him  into  a  river,  which  falls  into  the  Meander. 

14* 


162  HISTORY   OF   THE   LYDIANS. 

Taurus,  in  Cappadocia.  It  received  the  name  of  Halys  from 
the  saltness  of  its  waters  before  it  enters  the  sea.  It  is  now 
called  the  Kizil-Ermak,  or  Red  River  ;  but  its  true  name  is 
said  to  be  Aitn-Su.  Where  Kinnier  crossed  it,  between 
Woiwode  and  Vizir  Kapri,  it  was  about  three  hundred  feet 
broad,  and  this,  it  must  be  remembered,  was  at  a  place  where 
the  stream  was  contracted,  near  the  ruins  of  a  fine  old  bridge. 
Tournefort  describes  it  to  be,  at  its  mouth,  about  the  width  of 
the  Seine  at  Paris.  Its  whole  course  was  probably  four  hun- 
dred miles.  According  to  a  French  authority,  it  falls  into 
the  Black  Sea  by  one  mouth,  at  the  boundary  of  Pontus  and 
Paphlagonia. 

The  Halys  is  the  largest  river  of  Asia  Minor,  and  in  the 
days  of  Croesus  it  formed  the  western  limit  of  the  Median, 
and  the  eastern  Umit  of  the  Lydian  empires.  It  is  celebrated 
for  the  defeat  of  Croesus,  who  was  deceived  by  this  quibbling 
oracle :  "  If  Croesus  passes  over  the  Halys,  he  shall  destroy  a 
great  empire."     That  empire  was  his  own  ! 

Pactolus. — The  Pactolus  is  a  tributary  to  the  Hermus. 
Taking  its  rise  in  Mount  Tmolus,  it  falls  into  that  river  after 
it  has  watered  the  city  of  Sardes.  By  Pliny  it  is  called  Ti- 
molus.  The  poets  say  that  Midas  washed  himself  in  this  river, 
when  he  turned  into  gold  whatever  he  touched  ;  and  from 
that  circumstance  it  ever  after  rolled  golden  sand,  and  re- 
ceived the  name  of  Chrysorrhoas. 

"The  king,  instructed,  to  the  fount  retires. 
But  with  the  golden  charm  the  stream  inspires : 
For  while  this  quality  the  man  forsakes, 
An  equal  power  the  limpid  water  takes ; 
Informs  with  veins  of  gold  the  neighbouring  land, 
And  glides  along  a  bed  of  golden  sand." 

Ovid  Met.  xi. 

It  would  appear,  from  history,  that  gold  was  anciently 
found  both  among  the  sands  of  the  Pactolus  and  Hermus ; 
and  Lucan,  in  his  Pharsalia,  says  truly : 

"  Proud  Lydia's  plains  send  forth  her  wealthy  sons, 
Pactolus  there,  and  golden  Hermus,  runs : 
From  earth's  dark  womb  hid  treasures  they  convey, 
And,  rich  in  yellow  waters,  rise  to  day." 

Strabo  observes,  however,  that  the  Pactolus  had  no  golden 
sands  in  his  age. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   LYDIANS.  163 


The  fertility  of  Lydia,  and  the  salubrity  of  its  climate,  are 
frequently  mentioned  by  ancient  writers.  The  air,  especially 
near  Mount  Tmolus,  is  much  celebrated  in  their  pages.  It 
is  said  that  it  was  so  wholesome,  that  the  inhabitants  gene- 
rally lived  to  the  age  of  150  years  ;  and  that  the  neighbour- 
ing country  was  very  prolific,  and  produced  an  abundance 
of  odoriferous  flowers.  Mount  Tmolus  itself  was  celebrated 
for  the  herb  saffron,  to  which  we  find  an  illusion  in  the 
Georgics  of  Virgil : 

"  Thus  Tmolus  is  with  yellow  saffron  crown'd." 

The  account  of  ancient  writers,  concerning  the  fertility  of  the 
ground,  and  the  salubrity  of  the  air  of  Lydia,  is  confirmed 
by  the  reports  of  modern  travellers.  Chishall  speaks  of  the 
country  between  Tmolus  and  Messogis,  as  a  "  region  inex- 
pressibly delicious."  It  would  appear,  indeed,  that  the  soil 
of  Lydia,  by  reason  of  its  many  rivers,  was  very  fertile,  and 
that  the  country  abounded  in  all  kinds  of  grain,  and  was  ce- 
lebrated for  its  excellent  wines. 

Some  authors  state,  that  Lydia  was  enriched  with  many 
mines,  whence  Croesus  obtamed  his  immense  wealth;  but 
there  is  no  proof  that  the  Lydians  ever  carried  on  the  opera- 
tion of  mining.  It  is  most  probable  that  they  obtained  their 
gold  chiefly  from  the  river  Pactolus,  which,  according  to  He- 
rodotus, washed  it  down  from  Mount  Tmolus. 


CHAPTER  11. 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  HISTORY  OF  LYDIA. 


The  most  important  towns  of  Lydia  were.  Sardis,  Phila- 
delphia, Thyatira,  and  Magnesia. 

SAUDIS. 

Sardis  was  the  capital  of  the  kingdom  of  Lydia,  in  the 
days  of  Croesus,  who,  when  defeated  in  the  plain  before  this 
city,  by  Cyrus,  was  master  of  all  the  nations  within  the  river 
Halys.  The  dominion  of  this  territory  then  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  Persians,  and  Sardis  became  the  residence  of  the 
Satraps,  to  whom  the  government  was  committed  ;  it  was  also 
the  chosen  resort  of  the  Persian  monarchs,  when  in  this  part 
of  their  empire.  It  surrendered  to  Alexander,  after  he  had 
defeated  the  Persians  in  the  battle  of  the  Granicus ;  and  it 
continued  a  great  city  under  the  Romans,  until  the  terrible 
earthquake,  which  happened  in  the  days  of  Tiberius.  By 
that  emperor's  orders,  however,  it  was  rebuilt;  but  subse- 
quent calamities  of  the  same  description,  with  the  ravages 
and  spoliations  of  the  Goths,  Saracens,  and  Turks,  have  re- 
duced it  to  a  heap  of  ruins,  in  Avhich,  notwithstanding,  some 
remains  of  its  ancient  splendour  may  be  traced. 

Sardis,  which  is  now  a  miserable  village,  called  Sart,  is 
situated  on  the  northern  side  of  Mount  Tmolus,  having  a 
pleasant  and  spacious  plain  before  it,  well  watered  with  seve- 
ral streams,  flowing  from  a  neighbouring  hill  to  the  south- 
east. These  streams  fall  into  the  Pactolus,  rising  to  the  east 
from  the  same  hill,  and  w^hich,  with  its  collected  waters,  in- 
creases the  stream  of  the  Hermus,  or  Sarabat,  into  which  it 
falls. 

Sardis  is  celebrated  in  Christian  history,  as  one  of  the 
"  Seven  Apocalyptic  Churches,"  against  which  the  evan- 
geHst  John  lifted  up  his  warning  voice :  "  And  unto  the  an- 


fflSTORY   OF    THE   LYDIANS.  165 

gel  of  the  church  in  Sardis  write ;  These  things  saith  he 
that  hath  the  seven  Spirits  of  God,  and  the  seven  stars ;  I 
know  thy  works,  that  thou  hast  a  name  that  thou  livest,  and 
art  dead.  Be  watchful,  and  strengthen  the  things  which  re- 
main, that  are  ready  to  die :  for  I  have  not  found  thy  works 
perfect  before  God.  Remember  therefore  hovi^  thou  hast  re- 
ceived and  heard,  and  hold  fast,  and  repent.  If  therefore 
thou  shalt  not  watch,  I  will  come  on  thee  as  a  thief,  and  thou 
shalt  not  know  what  hour  I  will  come  upon  thee.  Thou 
hast  a  few  names  even  in  Sardis  which  have  not  defiled  their 
garments;  and  they  shall  walk  with  me  in  white :  for  they 
are  worthy.  He  that  overcometh,  the  same  shall  be  clothed 
in  white  raiment ;  and  I  will  not  blot  out  his  name  out  of  the 
book  of  life,  but  I  will  confess  his  name  before  my  Father, 
and  before  his  angels.  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear 
what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches,"  Rev.  iii.  1 — 6. 

How  literally  this  threatening  has  been  accomplished,  his- 
tory and  the  testimony  of  travellers  declare.  This  once  opu- 
lent city  is  now  dwindled  into  an  insignificant  village,  the 
houses  of  which  are  few  and  mean.  The  present  inhabit- 
ants are  mostly  shepherds,  who  tend  their  flocks  and  herds 
as  they  feed  in  the  spacious  plains.  "  If  I  were  asked,"  says 
Arundel,  in  his  '  Discoveries  in  Asia  Minor,'  "  what  impresses 
the  mind  most  strongly  in  beholding  Sardis,  I  should  say,  its 
indescribable  solitude^  like  the  darkness  of  Egypt,  darkness 
that  could  be  felt.  So  the  deep  solitude  of  the  spot,  once  the 
'  lady  of  the  kingdoms,'  produces  a  corresponding  feeling  of 
desolate  abandonment  in  the  mind,  which  can  never  be  for- 
gotten;" The  Rev.  J.  Hartley  also  remarks :  "  The  ruins 
are,  with  one  exception,  more  entirely  gone  to  decay  than 
those  of  most  of  the  ancient  cities  which  we  have  visited. 
No  Christians  reside  on  the  spot ;  two  Greeks,  only,  work 
in  a  mill  here,  and  a  few  wretched  Turkish  huts  are  scattered 
among  the  ruins.  We  saw  the  churches  of  St.  John  and  the 
Virgin,  the  theatre,  and  the  building  styled  the  palace  of  Croe- 
sus ;  but  the  most  striking  object  at  Sardis  is  the  temple  of 
Cybele.  I  was  filled  with  wonder  and  awe  at  beholding  the 
two  stupendous  columns  of  this  edifice,  which  are  still  re- 
maining: they  are  silent  but  impressive  witnesses  of  the 
power  and  splendour  of  antiquity."  Southward  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Sart,  at  the  bottom  of  a  small  hill,  considerable  ruins 
are  discovered.  Six  pillars  are  standing  there,  twenty-one 
feet  in  circumference,  and  thirty  in  height ;  and  there  are 
several  vast  stones  belonging  to  pillars  now  prostrate.     In 


166  HISTORY   OF    THE   LYDIANS. 

the  Standing  pillars,  the  stones  are  so  exactly  enclosed,  that 
they  seem  as  if  they  were  all  composed,  each  of  one  stone. 
Eastward  to  these  ruins,  a  castle  in  ruins  speaks  to  the  be- 
holder of  desolation.  The  ascent  to  this  pile  is  so  steep,  that 
the  approach  must  be  made  by  a  circuitous  path.  In  ancient 
times,  it  was  doubtless  considered  as  inaccessible  and  impreg- 
nable. There  is  a  Greek  inscription  within  the  castle,  upon 
the  chapiter  of  a  pillar,  to  the  honour  of  the  emperor  Tibe- 
rius, who  is  considered  its  second  founder,  its  breaches  hav- 
ing been  repaired  by  his  directions.  Eastward  to  the  castle 
are  the  ruins  of  a  great  church,  and  northward  of  these  are 
other  vast  ruins ;  the  walls  still  remaining  having  several 
divisions  and  apartments,  all  of  which  take  up  a  large  com- 
pass of  ground.  This  is  thought  to  have  been  either  the 
palace  of  the  governor,  the  seat  of  justice,  or  a  public  hall, 
as  a  place  of  meeting  for  the  citizens ;  but  it  is  impossible 
now  to  decide  which.  Other  ruins  are  met  with  in  this  direc- 
tion, from  which  circumstance,  some  conclude  that  the  great- 
est part  of  the  city  lay  in  this  quarter. 

The  Turks  have  a  mosque  at  Sart,  which  was  formerly  a 
Christian  church,  at  the  entrance  of  which  are  several  curious 
pillars  of  polished  marble.  A  few  Christians  live  amongst 
them  in  the  capacity  of  gardeners  and  labourers ;  but  they 
have  no  church,  nor  any  one  capacitated  either  to  preach  the 
glad  tidings  of  salvation  through  a  crucified  Redeemer,  or  to 
administer  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel.  So  awfully,  so  lite- 
rally has  the  threat  been  verified,  that,  because  she  had  a  name 
to  live,  while  in  reality  she  was  dead,  and  because  she  attended 
not  to  the  voice  of  warning  mercy,  the  candlestick  should  be 
removed  out  of  its  place.  A  missionary,  named  Lindsay, 
who  recently  visited  Sardis,  states,  that  the  very  few  Chris- 
tians w^ho  lived  in  its  vicinity  wished  to  settle  in  the  plain,  and 
erect  a  church  on  the  site  of  Sardis  ;  but  being  prevented  from 
this  by  Kara  Osman  Oglou,  the  Turkish  governor  of  the 
place,  they  erected  one  on  the  plain,  within  sight  of  ancient 
Sardis.  At  this  place,  he  says,  w^hich  has  gradually  risen 
into  a  little  village,  named  Tatar-Keny,  they  maintain  a  priest; 
and  thither  the  few  Christians,  forming  together  a  congrega- 
tion of  forty  persons,  resort  for  public  worship.  Another  mis- 
sionary, however,  who  visited  Sart  more  recently,  states,  that 
there  is  not  now  in  that  place  even  one  Christian  family.  All 
have  defiled  their  garments  by  apostasy.  Let  us  take  warn- 
ing by  their  example. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   LYDIANS.  167 


PHILADELPHIA. 

Philadelphia  was  situated  about  twenty-five  miles  east  by- 
south  of  Sardis,  upon  a  branch  of  Mount  Tmolus ;  at  which 
spot  there  are  still  to  be  seen  the  relics  of  a  noble  city,  called, 
by  the  Turks,  Allah  Shehr,  "  the  beautiful  city,"  or  "  the  city 
of  God.''  It  was  built  by  Attalus  Philadelphus,  king-  of  Per- 
gamus. 

The  voice  of  the  evangelist  was  also  directed  to  Philadel- 
phia, but  no  thunders  were  heard  in  the  sound.  "  And  to  the 
angel  of  the  church  in  Philadelphia  write ;  These  things 
saith  he  that  is  holy,  he  that  is  true,  he  that  hath  the  key  of 
David,  he  that  openeth,  and  no  man  shutteth ;  and  shutteth, 
and  no  man  openeth  ;  I  know  thy  works :  behold,  1  have  set 
before  thee  an  open  door,  and  no  man  can  shut  it :  for  thou 
hast  a  little  strength,  and  hast  kept  my  word,  and  hast  not 
denied  my  name.  Behold,  I  will  make  them  of  the  syna- 
gogue of  Satan,  which  say  they  are  Jews,  and  are  not,  but 
do  lie  ;  behold,  I  will  make  them  to  come  and  worship  before 
thy  feet,  and  to  know  that  I  have  loved  thee.  Because  thou 
hast  kept  the  word  of  my  patience,  I  also  will  keep  thee  from 
the  hour  of  temptation,  which  shall  come  upon  all  the  world, 
to  try  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth.  Behold,  I  come  quick- 
ly :  hold  that  fast  which  thou  hast,  that  no  man  take  thy  crown. 
Him  that  overcometh  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my 
God,  and  he  shall  go  no  more  out :  and  I  will  write  upon  him 
the  name  of  my  God,  and  the  name  of  the  city  of  my  God, 
which  is  new  Jerusalem,  which  cometh  down  out  of  heaven 
from  my  God :  and  I  will  write  upon  him  my  new  name. 
He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto 
the  churches,"  Rev.  iii.  7—13. 

The  infidel  Gibbon  unwittingly  bears  his  testimony  to  the 
fulfilment  of  this  prophecy.  He  says,  "  Among  the  [inland] 
Greek  colonies  and  churches  of  Asia,  Philadelphia  is  still 
erect ;  a  column  in  a  scene  of  ruins !  At  a  distance  from 
the  sea,  forgotten  by  the  emperors,  encompassed  on  all  sides 
by  the  Turks,  her  valiant  citizens  defended  their  religion  and 
their  freedoin  above  fourscore  years ;  and  at  length  capitu- 
lated with  the  proudest  of  the  Ottomans." 

The  American  missionaries,  Fisk  and  Parsons,  when  they 
visited  the  place  in  1820,  were  informed  by  the  Greek  Arch- 
bishop Gabriel,  that  there  were  five  churches  in  the  town,  be- 
sides twenty  which  were  either  old  or  small,  and  had  fallen 
into  disuse.     The  number  of  houses  is  estimated  at  SjOOOj  of 


168  HISTORY   OF   THE   LYDIANS. 

which  250  are  inhabited  by  Greeks,  the  rest  by  Turks.  One 
of  the  present  mosques  was  pointed  out  to  the  missionaries, 
as  the  church  in  which  the  primitive  Christians  of  Philadel- 
phia assembled,  to  whom  St.  John  wrote. 

Philadelphia,  as  it  now  exists,  covers  a  considerable  extent 
of  ground,  running  up  the  slope  of  several  hills.  Travellers 
concur  in  describing  the  streets  as  filthy,  and  the  houses  mean ; 
but  the  scenery  around  is  represented  as  beautiful  in  the  ex- 
treme. Before  it  lies  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  richest 
plains  in  Asia.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  ruins  of  anti- 
quity now  seen  there  is  a  single  column,  which  evidently  be- 
longed to  another  structure  than  the  present  church.  "  Which," 
says  an  elegant  writer,  "  taken  with  the  present  name  of  the 
town,  forcibly  brings  to  mind  that  part  of  the  message  to  the 
church  of  Philadelphia  which  we  find  in  the  12th  verse." 

THYATIRA. 

Thyatira  was  situated  on  the  banks  of  a  stream  that  runs 
south-west  to  the  Hermus,  or  Sarabat,  twenty-five  British 
miles  north-west  of  Sardis,  and  forty  miles  south-east  of  Per- 
gamus.  According  to  Strabo,  it  was  a  Macedonian  colony, 
and  it  was  the  Pelopeia  and  Euhippia  of  Pliny.  By  Ptolemy 
it  is  denominated,  in  his  list  of  Lydian  cities,  Thyatira  Metro- 
polis. It  is  now  called  Ak-hissar,  or  "  The  White  Castle ;" 
perhaps  denoting  the  city  of  the  Ak-Su-Leucos,  or  "  White 
River,"  on  which  it  stands.  It  contains  a  population  of  5,000 
souls. 

Thyatira  was  another  of  the  Seven  Churches  addressed  by 
the  evangelist  John,  whose  warning  voice  foretold  its  desola- 
tion in  these  emphatic  words :  "  And  unto  the  angel  of  the 
church  in  Thyatira  write ;  These  things  saith  the  Son  of 
God,  who  hath  his  eyes  like  unto  a  flame  of  fire,  and  his  feet 
are  like  fine  brass ;  I  know  thy  works,  and  charity,  and  ser- 
vice, and  faith,  and  thy  patience,  and  thy  works  ;  and  the  last 
to  be  more  than  the  first.  Notwithstanding  I  have  a  few 
things  against  thee,  because  thou  sufferest  that  woman  Jeze- 
bel, which  calleth  herself  a  prophetess,  to  teach  and  to  seduce 
my  servants  to  commit  fornication,  and  to  eat  things  sacrificed 
unto  idols.  And  I  gave  her  space  to  repent  of  her  fornica- 
tion ;  and  she  repented  not.  Behold,  I  will  cast  her  into  a 
bed,  and  them  that  commit  adultery  with  her  into  great  tribu- 
lation, except  they  repent  of  their  deeds.  And  I  will  kill  her 
children  with  death  j  and  all  the  churches  shall  know  that  1 


HISTORY   OF   THE   LYDIANS.  160 

am  he  which  searcheth  the  reins  and  hearts :  and  I  will  give 
unto  every  one  of  you  according  to  your  works.  But  unto 
you  I  say,  and  unto  the  rest  in  Thyatira,  as  many  as  have 
not  this  doctrine,  and  which  have  not  known  the  depths  of 
Satan,  as  they  speak ;  I  will  put  upon  you  none  other  bur- 
den. But  that  which  ye  have  already  hold  fast  till  I  come. 
And  he  that  overcometh,  and  keepeth  my  works  unto  the 
end,  to  him  will  I  give  power  over  the  nations :  and  he  shall 
rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron ;  as  the  vessels  of  a  potter  shall 
Ihey  be  broken  to  shivers :  even  as  I  received  of  my  Father. 
And  I  will  give  him  the  morning  star.  He  that  hath  an  ear, 
let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches,"  Rev, 
ii.  18—29. 

At  the  present  day,  there  is  not  one  Christian  among  the 
inhabitants  of  Ak-hissar,  all  being  Mohammedans ;  and  the 
Christian  churches  which  remained  have  long  since  been 
converted  into  mosques,  and  the  columns  of  marble  which 
once  adorned  the  public  buildings  are  now  used  for  inns  and 
bazars.  Its  ancient  Pagan  inhabitants  were  worshippers  of 
the  goddess  Diana,  as  appears  by  several  classic  monuments, 
with  Greek  inscriptions,  erected  by  Roman  governors.  The 
ancient  remains  of  Thyatira  are  more  meagre  than  any  of  the 
seven  churches.  The  American  missionary  Fisk  thus  de- 
scribes the  place :  "  Thyatira  is  situated  near  a  small  river,  a 
branch  of  the  Caicus,  in  the  centre  of  an  extensive  plain.  At 
the  distance  of  three  or  four  miles,  it  is  almost  completely  sur- 
rounded by  mountains.  The  houses  are  low  ;  many  of  them 
of  mud  or  earth.  Excepting  the  Motsellim's  palace,  there  is 
scarcely  a  decent  house  in  the  place.  The  streets  are  nar- 
row and  dirty,  and  every  thing  indicates  poverty  and  degra- 
dation. The  Turks  have  destroyed  all  remains  of  the  ancient 
church ;  and  even  the  place  where  it  stood  is  now  unknown. 
At  present  there  are  in  the  town,  1,000  houses  for  which  taxes 
axe  paid  to  the  government." 

Gibbon  has  attempted  to  deny  the  existence  of  the  church 
at  Thyatira,  and  consequently  the  authenticity  of  the  Apo- 
calypse, on  the  authority  of  the  Alogians  and  of  Epiphanius. 
But  the  existence  of  such  a  church  is  proved  by  the  learned 
Dr.  Stosch,  whom  Gibbon  never  attempted  to  refute.  ^  Lydia. 
moreover,  who  was  converted  at  Philippi,  is  denominated  a 
seller  of  purple  of  the  city  of  Thyatira  ;  evidently  meaning, 
that  that  city  was  the  place  of  her  ordinary  residence,  and 
that  the  purple  manufactured  there  was  carried  by  her  to  the 
market  of  Philippi  for  sale,  where  she  had  a  house  during 

VOL.  u.  15  ' 


170  HISTORY   OF   THE    LYDIANS. 

her  abode  there,  till  the  article  was  disposed  of  at  the  annual 
fair,  which  continued  many  days.  On  this  subject  the  Rev. 
J.  Hartley  observes :  "  The  sacred  writer  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  informs  us,  that  Lydia  was  a  seller  of  purple  in  the 
city  of  Thyatira  ;  and  the  'discovery  of  an  inscription  here 
which  makes  mention  of  the  dyers,  has  been  considered  im- 
portant in  connexion  with  this  passage.  I  Imow  not  if  other 
travellers  have  remarked,  that  even  at  the  present  time,  Thy- 
atira is  famous  for  dyeing.  In  answer  to  inquiries  on  the 
subject,  I  was  informed  that  the  cloths  which  are  dyed  scarlet 
here,  are  considered  superior  to  any  others  furnished  by  Asia 
Minor  ;  and  that  large  quantities  are  sent  weekly  to  Smyrna, 
for  the  purpose  of  commerce."  Now,  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
that  Lydia  returned  to  Thyatira,  after  she  and  her  household 
had  been  baptized,  and  that,  by  the  church  in  her  house, 
others  would  be  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  that  Saviour 
whom  she  had  found  so  precious  to  her  soul.  Nor  can  there 
be  any  doubt  that  the  zealous  and  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles, 
jn  his  travels  through  Mysia  and  Lydia,  would  visit  Thyatira. 
As  all  Asia,  indeed,  both  Jews  and  Greeks,  heard  the  word 
of  God  from  his  lips,  when  he  was  two  years  professedly  re- 
siding at  Ephesus,  it  can  hardly  be  imagined  that  those  of 
Thyatira,  which  was  only  seventy  EngUsh  miles  distant,  would 
be  excepted.  The  locality  of  Thyatira,  also,  with  reference 
to  Pergamus,  Sardis,  Philadelphia,  and  other  places,  where 
churches  had  been  planted  by  the  apostles  Paul  and  John, 
renders  it  probable  that  one  was  planted  there.  Finally,  Ter- 
tullian,  who  wrote  before  the  Alogians,  admits  its  early  ex- 
istence ;  and  it  is  also  mentioned  by  Origen  in  his  homilies. 
There  is  no  ground,  therefore,  to  call  in  question  the  existence 
of  the  Church  of  Thyatira. 

MAGNESIA. 

Magnesia  and  Sipylum,  now  Magnissa,  is  thirty-five  miles 
due  west  from  Sardis,  and  eighteen  north-east  of  Smyrna.  It 
is  situated  at  the  foot  of  a  lofty  and  rugged  mountain,  (the 
ancient  Mons  Sipylus,  now  called  the  SipuH  Dagh,)  that  rises 
behind  it,  and  abruptly  terminates  the  vast  plain,  which  runs 
from  the  north  of  Ak-hissar,  the  ancient  Thyatira,  to  this  place. 
It  contains,  at  the  least,  twenty-seven  mosques,  and  most  of 
the  houses  are  placed  at  the  foot,  and  some  on  the  sides  of  the 
mountain.     It  has  been  for  eighty  years,  with  all  the  territory 


HISTORY   OF   THE   LYDIANS.  171 

from  the  Meander  to  the  Propontis,  under  the  equitable  go- 
vernment of  the  family  of  Cara  Osman  Oglou. 

On  the  slope  of  Mount  Sipylus,  and  overlooking  the  city,  are 
the  ruins  of  an  ancient  castle,  with  its  outworks.  The  bazar 
is  well  stored  with  fruits  and  vegetables,  which  shows  the  fer- 
tility of  the  country  around.  The  site  of  the  city  itself,  how- 
ever, from  the  excessive  heats  and  frequent  floods  of  the  Sara- 
bat,  generates  malaria,  whence  fever  and  ague  affect  the  in- 
habitants to  an  alarming  extent. 

Sir  William  Ousely  represents  the  inn,  or  Turkish  khan, 
at  which  he  lodged  in  this  place,  as  he  journeyed  from  Con- 
stantinople to  Smyrna,  as  the  best  he  had  met  with  in  the  east. 
It  was  a  spacious  building,  forming  a  regular  square,  with  an 
open  court,  where  a  richly  ornamented  fountain  in  the  centre 
furnished  a  supply  of  water.  The  chambers  were  numerous, 
and  the  one  in  which  he  slept  was  on  the  upper  floor,  Avhere 
the  door  of  each  chamber  opened  from  a  railed  gallery,  pro- 
jecting into  the  square,  and  supported  on  pillars  and  arches. 
Between  these  arches,  and  over  the  colonnade,  were  receptacles, 
cut  with  divisions  and  small  holes,  for  the  accommodation  of 
sparrows,  with  which,  he  states,  every  compartment  was  fully 
tenanted  ;  they  being  daily  fed  by  the  Turks,  and  never  mo- 
lested. 

It  may  be  mentioned,  that  there  was  another  city  of  the 
same  name  seated  on  the  Meander,  and  which  was  formerly 
a  city  of  great  note,  as  the  ruins  of  many  buildings  demon- 
strate. At  this  place,  the  great  Themistocles  died,  it  being 
one  of  the  three  towns  allotted  to  him  by  Artaxerxes  for  his 
subsistence,  during  his  exile. 


CHAPTER   IIL 


HISTORY  OF  THE  POLITY  OF  LYDIA. 


THE   GOVERNMENT,    ETC.  s 

The  Lydians  were  ruled  by  kings  in  the  earliest  ages 
of  the  world.  Their  proper  history,  however,  only  commen- 
ces, as  will  be  hereafter  explained,  about  b.  c.  718. 

The  government  of  Lydia,  so  far  as  can  be  gathered  from  the 
conduct  of  their  monarchs,  seems  to  have  been  despotic  in  the 
highest  degree,  and  the  crown  hereditary.  This  their  brief 
history  exhibits,  and  the  reader  is  therefore  referred  to  that 
section  for  further  information  on  this  point. 

The  character  of  the  Lydians  varied  at  different  periods, 
under  Croesus,  and  some  of  his  predecessors,  they  were  evi- 
dently a  warlike  people ;  for  they  reduced  all  the  neighbour- 
ing countries,  and  spread  the  terror  of  their  arms  far  and 
wide.  Afterwards,  being  subdued  by  the  Persians,  and  en- 
joined by  Cyrus,  according  to  the  advice  given  him  by  CrcE- 
sus,  to  wear  long  vests,  and  apply  themselves  to  such  arts  and 
callings  only  as  had  a  natural  tendency  to  corrupt  their  man- 
ners and  enervate  their  courage,  they  became  a  voluptuous 
and  effeminate  race  of  people. 

Herodotus  gives  the  following  account  of  the  origin  of  this 
change  of  character.  The  Lydians,  not  long  after  they  were 
subdued  by  Cyrus,  at  the  instigation  of  one  Pactyas,  a  Lydian, 
whom  Cyrus  had  trusted  with  the  gold  which  he  had  found  in 
the  treasury  of  Croesus,  at  Sardis,  rebelled.  News  of  this  re- 
volt being  brought  to  Cyrus,  as  he  was  leading  his  army 
against  the  Babylonians,  Bactrians,  and  Egyptians,  he  re- 
solved to  march  back  into  Lydia,  sell  all  the  Lydians  for 
slaves,  and  put  an  end  to  the  existence  of  the  nation.  He  in- 
parted  his  resolution  to  Crcssus,  at  that  time  his  prisoner,  who, 
deploring  the  utter  ruin  of  his  country,  entreated  him  to  for- 
give the  Lydians,  and  to  revenge  himself  on  Pactyas  alone, 


mSTORY   OF    THE   LYDIANS.  173 

by  whom  they  had  been  misled.  At  the  same  time,  Croesus 
advised  Cyrus,  in  order  to  prevent  any  future  rebellion,  to  for- 
bid the  Lydians  the  use  of  arms,  to  encourage  luxury  and 
debauchery  among-  them,  to  which  they  were  naturally  in- 
clined, and  to  cause  their  children  to  be  brought  up  to  such 
callings  only  as  would  ensure  their  enervation.*  This  evil 
advice,  more  ruinous  in  its  results  than  that  which  Cyrus  him- 
self meditated,  was  followed,  and  in  a  short  time  the  Ly- 
dians became  the  most  corrupt  and  feeble  nation  under 
the  sun. 

"  So  coin  grows  smooth,  in  traffic  current  pass'd. 
Till  Cesar's  image  is  effaced  at  last." — Cowper. 

Some  have  concluded  from  Jeremiah  xlvi.  9,  that  the  arms 
of  the  ancient  Lydians  were  bows  and  arrows  ;  but  in  this 
they  err.  The  original  from  whence  the  word  "  Lydians  " 
is  translated  in  this  verse,  is  Ludim,  and  the  people  denoted 
must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Lydians  of  Asia  Minor,  with 
whom  the  Egyptians  and  other  African  nations  usually  asso- 
ciated with  them  could  have  no  connexion.  There  were  two 
Luds,  one  the  son  of  Shem,  from  whom  these  Lydians  are 
descended ;  and  the  other,  the  son  of  Misraim,  the  settler  of 
Egypt,  whose  descendants  are  supposed  to  have  settled  in 
Africa,  and  near  Egypt.  It  is  to  these  latter  people  that  the 
prophet  alludes,  when  he  speaks  of  "  the  Lydians,  that  handle 
and  bend  the  bow." 

Like  the  bulk  of  mankind,  in  those  ancient  days,  the  Ly- 
dians were  gross  idolaters.  It  would  appear  that  they  wor- 
shipped the  goddess  Diana,  as  they  did  also  Jupiter  and  Cy- 
bele  at  Magnesia,  under  the  name  of  Sypilene.  This  is  evi- 
dent from  the  fact,  that  in  the  alliance  concluded  between  the 
cities  of  Smyrna  and  Magnesia  on  the  Meander  in  favour  of 
Seleucus  Callinicius,  both  parties  swore,  according  to  the 
Arundelian  marbles,  by  the  goddess  Sypilene.  In  the  same 
city  there  was  a  temple  of  Diana  Leucophryna,  which,  it  is 
said,  equalled  in  magnificence  the  celebrated  temple  of  Diana 
at  Ephesus. 

The  Lydian  mode  of  expiation  nearly  resembled  that  in 
use  among  the  Greeks.  ApoUonius  Rhodius  has  thus  de- 
scribed the  custom  in  his  poem  of  the  Argonautics : — 

*  Xerxes,  it  is  said,  compelled  the  Babylonians  to  adopt  a  similar  con- 
duct. He  forbade  their  carrying  arms,  and  obliged  them  to  learn  the 
practice  of  music,  to  have  in  their  cities  places  of  debauch,  and  to  wear 
long  tunics.     Such  are  among  the  evil  effects  of  tyranny. 


if  4  HISTORY   OF   THE   LYDIANS. 

"  On  splendid  seats  th'  enchantress  bade  them  rest ; 
But  doubts  and  anxious  thoughts  her  soul  possess'd. 
Their  steps  unsounding  through  the  palace  pass'd, 
The  vestal  hearth  they  sought  with  silent  haste  ; 
Then,  motionless,  with  downcast  eyes  they  sate, 
As  suits  the  humble  suppliant's  piteous  state. 
Stung  with  reproaches  of  the  conscious  mind, 
Between  her  hands  the  maid  her  face  inclin'd ; 
While  leaning  on  the  hilt,  with  grief  profound, 
The  youth  infixed  his  falchion  in  the  ground  ; 
Nor  lifts  to  vengeful  Heaven  his  drooping  eyes, 
While  gloomy  thoughts  for  slain  Absyrtus  rise. 
Fair  Circe  marked  the  deep  desponding  mood  ; 
She  recognised  the  fugitives  from  blood ; 
Revered  the  suppliant^  right  with  pious  awe ; 
And  bow'd  submiss  to  Jove's  imperial  law. 
Who  makes  the  suppliant  his  peculiar  care. 
And  e'en  in  punishment  inclines  to  spare. 
Th'  atoning  sacrifices  she  began. 
That  stains  of  blood  remove  from  wretched  man ; 
For  refuge  when  he  flics  to  Vesta's  shrine. 
And  seeks  remission  from  the  powers  divine. 
High  o'er  their  heads,  the  little  swine  she  held, 
New  from  the  dam,  and  paps  vdth  nurture  swell'd. 
She  pierced  his  throat,  and  cleansing  blood  with  blood, 
Her  suppliants  tinctured  in  the  purple  flood. 
Then  ceremonies  fill'd  the  solemn  hour, 
To  calm  the  wrath  of  every  vengeful  power ; 
And  lustral  Jove  was  call'd,  at  whose  command 
Oblations  pure  absolve  the  slayer's  hand. 
This  done,  her  train,  full  many  a  Naiad  maid 
The  ablutions  from  the  splendid  dome  convey'd. 
Within  to  sober  vows,  and  whisper'd  prayer 
That  bid  the  furies  drop  the  scourge,  and  spare, 
The  flame  with  salted  cakes  the  enchantress  fed ; 
And  sweet  libations  o'er  the  offering  shed 
Of  mighty  power,  to  sooth  the  gliding  dead ; 
Where  a  stranger's  death  their  hands  embrued, 
Or  the  dire  stain  from  kindred  blood  accrued. 
The  solemn  expiations  were  complete. 
She  called  each  suppliant  to  the  polish'd  seat 
Full  in  her  view  and  near. — Preston's  Translation. 

This  is  one  of  the  many  instances  to  be  met  with  in  profane 
history  of  men  acknowledging  their  guiltiness  before  their 
heathen  gods,  and  seeking  to  divert  Divine  displeasure  by 
the  offer  of  a  representative  victim.  And  the  question  has 
been  asked,  Whence  did  the  ancient  heathen  derive  this  in- 
stitution? The  question  is  natural,  for  the  slaughter  and 
burning  of  an  inoffensive  animal  does  not  seem  a  very  obvious 
process,  to  the  first  exercise  of  natural  reason,  for  diverting 
the  Divine  vengeance.  It  is,  however,  easily  answered.  As 
mankind  descended  from  one  common  parent,  and  as  the 


HISTORY   OP   THE   LYDIANS.  175 

patriarchs,  from  Abel  downward,  by  Divine  command,  offered 
up  such  sacrifices,  the  practice  was  doubtless  derived  tra- 
ditionally from  them.  But,  unhappily,  the  design  of  the  in- 
stitution was  unknown  to  the  heathen  world.  Originally,  it 
was  intended  to  shadow  forth  the  atonement  which,  at  the  ap- 
pointed time,  should  be  made  for  the  sins  of  the  world  by 
Jesus  Christ.  This  was  hidden  from  their  sight,  and  hence 
they  conceived  that  a  poor  dumb  animal  was  able  to  stand 
between  them  and  offended  Deity.  A  notion  of  vicarious 
punishment  —  that  sin  might  be  acknowledged,  and  the 
Divine  indignation  against  the  sinner  be  appeased  by  sacrifice 
— was  prevalent  among  all  nations  of  mankind  ;  but  one  na- 
tion only  possessed  the  true  knowledge  of  the  purport  of  the 
institution,  namely,  the  Jews,  who  were  taught  in  the  Mosai- 
cal  dispensation  to  look  through  types  and  shadows  to  the 
bleeding  sacrifice  of  the  Lamb  of  God.  Hence  it  was,  that 
good  old  Simeon,  w^ho  devoutly  waited  for  this  "  consolation 
of  Israel"  in  the  temple  of  his  God,  exclaimed  in  the  spirit  of 
prophecy,  as  he  held  the  infant  Jesus  in  his  arms,  "  Lord, 
now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  according  to  thy 
word  ;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation,  which  thou 
hast  prepared  before  the  face  of  all  people ;  a  light  to  lighten 
the  Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  thy  people  Israel,"  Luke  iL 
29 — 32.  This  Light  is  now  shining  around  us  in  all  its 
glory.  The  sacrifice  has  been  made;  and  we  are  daily 
directed  to  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the  sins  of 
the  world.  Have  we,  or  have  we  not,  accepted  his  sacrifice? 
Reader,  let  conscience  reply. 

One  law  among  the  ancient  Lydians  deserves  to  be  men- 
tioned, and  to  be  cherished  in  the  memory.  This  was  the 
punishment  of  idleness  as  a  crime,  and  their  inuring  their 
children,  from  their  very  infancy,  to  hardships.  In  the  for- 
mer clause  of  this  law,  they  deserve  to  be  imitated,  even  by  a 
Christian  people.  If  the  youth  of  our  country  were  generally 
brought  up  to  habits  of  industry,  how  much  vice  and  misery 
would  be  avoided.  Suffered  to  be  idle,  as  they  are  in  too  many 
instances,  they  become  the  prey  of  the  designing,  a  curse  to 
their  parents,  and  a  pest  to  society.  This  is  a  crying  evil  in 
our  day,  and  demands  correction.  Restraint  over  our  off 
spring  is  required  at  our  hands,  and  the  parent  who  neglects 
it  inflicts  a  moral  injury  upon  his  child  and  his  country, 
\vhile  he  exposes  himself  to  the  wrath  of  his  Maker.  If  hea- 
then parents  appreciated  the  results  of  industrious  habits, 
surely  Christian  parents  ought  not  to  undervalue  them. 


176  HISTORY   OF   THE   LTDIANS. 

They  should  keep  their  offspring  employed  in  their  learn- 
ing- and  other  occupations,  suited  to  their  tender  age,  that  they 
may  he  preserved  from  temptation  and  ruin.  All  nature 
teaches  the  lesson  of  industry.  The  sun,  moon,  and  stars, 
are  constant  in  the  performance  of  their  Creator's  will.  The 
earth,  also,  on  which  w^e  live,  unweariedly  travels  onward  in 
its  course,  and  the  very  insects  teach  us  a  lesson  of  industry. 
Shall  man  disregard  the  lesson  ? 

It  may  be  mentioned,  that  the  Lydians  are  said  by  the 
Greeks  to  have  been  the  first  people  who  put  a  stamp  upon 
gold  and  silver,  and  that  they  claimed  to  be  the  inventors  of 
the  games  which  were  prevalent  in  Greece  in  the  days  of  Hero- 
dotus, and  which  were  called  Ludi  by  the  Romans. 

COMMERCE. 

The  Lydians  appear  to  have  enjoyed  great  commercial 
prosperity,  and  to  have  possessed  an  abundance  of  the  pre- 
cious metals.  Their  gold,  as  before  intimated,  is  said  to  have 
been  obtained  from  the  rivers  Hermus  and  Pactolus,  which 
washed  it  down  from  the  mountains,  whence  they  derived 
their  sources.  The  splendour  of  the  monarchy  of  Lydia, 
and  the  commodious  situation  of  the  country,  would  indicate 
that  commerce  once  flourished  in  Lydia  to  an  eminent  de- 
gree. So,  also,  would  the  riches  of  their  princes,  and  of  pri- 
vate individuals,  the  accounts  of  which  seem  to  border  on  the 
fabulous.  Herodotus  says,  that  one  Pythius  not  only  enter- 
tained Xerxes  and  his  army,  while  he  was  marching  with  his 
great  army  to  invade  Greece,  but  made  him  a  proffer  of  two 
thousand  talents  of  silver,  about  700,000/.  sterhng,  and 
3,993,000  pieces  of  gold,  bearing  the  stamp  of  Darius,  to 
defray  the  charges  of  that  war.  The  same  Pythius,  he 
says,  had  presented  Darius,  father  of  Xerxes,  a  plane-tree  and 
a  vine,  or  imitations  thereof,  of  massive  gold ;  and  he  was 
reckoned,  next  to  the  kings  of  Persia,  one  of  the  richest  men 
in  the  world. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE   KINGDOM  OF  LYDIA. 


The  early  history  of  Lydia  is  related  by  Herodotus,  who 
informs  us  that  three  dynasties  ruled  in  that  country — the 
AtyadsB,  or  descendants  from  Atys,  from  the  earliest  times  to 
B.  c.  1223 ;  the  Heraclidce,  or  the  descendants  of  Hercules, 
from  B.  c.  1223  to  718;  and  Mermnadse,  from  b.  c.  718  to 
548,  at  which  date  the  country  was  conquered  by  Cyrus. 
The  proper  history  of  Lydia,  can  only  be  said  to  begin  with 
the  last  of  these  dynasties,  since  the  first  two  are  almost  en- 
tirely fabulous. 

The  first  monarch  in  the  dynasty  of  the  Mermnadae,  was 


GYGES. 

Herodotus  relates  a  tale  concerning-  the  rise  of  Gyges  to 
the  throne  of  Lydia,  which  is  too  romantic  to  be  here  related. 
Divesting  his  account,  however,  of  all  fable,  it  may  be  stated 
that  he  appears  to  have  waded  to  it  through  blood.  With  the 
knowledge  of  the  wife  of  Candaules,  the  last  of  the  race  of  the 
Heraclidae,  he  killed  that  monarch,  and  grasped  his  sceptre. 
In  this  particular,  Plato's  story  of  Gyges  is  confirmatory  of 
that  of  Herodotus. 

The  murder  of  Candaules  raised  a  sedition  among  the  Ly 
dians.  The  two  parties,  however,  instead  of  coming  to  blows, 
agreed  to  refer  the  matter  to  the  decision  of  the  Delphic  oracle, 
which  declared  in  favour  of  Gyges. 

As  soon  as  he  was  established  in  his  authority,  Gyges  sent 
various  presents  to  Delphi,  a  considerable  quantity  of  which 
were  of  silver.  Among  other  offerings  of  value,  Herodotus 
mentions  six  golden  goblets,  weighing  thu'ty  talents,  the  value 
of  which  was  about  48,000/.  sterling. 

As  soon  as  he  was  in  peaceable  possession  of  the  throne, 
Gyges  carried  his  arms  against  Miletus,  Smyrna,  and  Colo- 


178  HISTORY   OP   THE  LYDIANS. 

phon,  three  powerful  cities  belonging  to  the  neighbouring 
states,  the  latter  of  which  he  appears  to  have  conquered. 
These  are  all  the  actions  recorded  of  Gyges.  He  died  after 
a  reign  of  thirty-eight  years,  or  b.  c,  680,  and  was  succeeded 
in  his  kingdom  by  his  son  Ardyes. 

ARDYES. 

Herodotus  says,  this  prince  vanquished  the  Prienians,  and 
attacked  Miletus.  During  his  reign,  the  same  historian  tells 
us,  that  the  Cimmerians  being  expelled  their  country  by  the 
Nomades  of  Sci^nhia,  passed  over  into  Asia,  and  possessed 
themselves  of  ail  Sardis,  except  the  citadel.  Ardyes  reigned 
forty-nine  years,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son 


who  declared  war,  immediately  after,  against  the  Milesians, 
and  laid  siege  to  their  city.  In  ancient  times,  sieges,  which 
were  little  more  than  blockades,  were  carried  on  very  slowly, 
and  some  times  lasted  many  years.  Sadyattes  died  before  he 
had  finished  that  of  Miletus.  His  death  occurred  b.  c.  619, 
after  a  reign  of  twelve  years,  and  he  was  succeeded  in  his 
kingdom  by 


his  son,  who  reigned  fifty-seven  years. 

Alyattes,  as  before  recorded,  made  war  against  Cyaxares, 
king  of  Media.  He  likewise  drove  the  Cimmerians  out  of 
Asia,  and  attacked  and  took  the  cities  of  Smyrna,  and  invaded 
Clazomanre,  in  his  designs  upon  which  he  was  greatly  dis- 
appointed. 

Herodotus  relates,  that  Alyattes  resumed  the  war  against 
the  Milesians,  which  his  father  had  commenced,  and  which 
he  conducted  in  this  manner:  "When  the  time  of  harvest 
approached,  he  marched  an  army  into  the  country  to  the 
sound  of  the  pastoral  pipe,  harp,  and  flutes  masculine  and 
feminine,"  (or,  perhaps,  to  the  Lydian  and  Phrygian  flutes, 
the  sound  of  one  of  which  was  grave,  the  other  acute.)  "  On 
his  arrival  in  their  territories,  he  neither  pulled  down  nor 
burn€>d,  nor  in  any  respect  injured  their  edifices  which  stood 
in  the  fields  ;  but  he  totally  destroyed  their  trees,  and  the 
produce  of  their  lands,  and  then  returned.  As  the  Milesians 
were  masters  of  the  sea,  the  siege  of  their  city  would  probably 


HISTORY   OF  THE   LYDIANS.  179 

have  proved  ineffectual.  His  motive  for  not  destroying  their 
buildings  was,  that  they  might  be  induced  again  to  cultivate 
their  lands,  and  that  on  every  repetition  of  his  incursions  he 
might  be  secure  of  plunder.  In  this  manner,  the  war  was 
protracted  during  a  period  of  eleven  years,  in  which  time  the 
Milesians  received  two  remarkable  defeats  ;  one  in  a  pitched 
battle  at  Limeneium,  within  their  own  territories ;  another  on 
the  plains  of  Meander." 

This  war  was  ended  at  length  in  the  following  manner. 
Alyattes,  upon  an  answer  he  had  received  from  the  Delphic 
oracle,  had  sent  an  ambassador  into  the  city,  to  propose  a 
truce  for  some  months.  Thrasybulus,  tyrant  of  Miletus, 
having  notice  of  his  approach,  ordered  all  the  corn  and  other 
provisions,  collected  by  him  and  his  subjects  for  their  support, 
to  be  brought  into  the  public  market ;  and  commanded  the 
citizens,  at  the  sight  of  a  signal  which  was  agreed  upon,  to 
enjoy  a  general  feast,  and  to  exhibit  convivial  mirth.*  The 
deed  was  executed  according  to  his  orders.  The  Lydian 
ambassador,  at  his  arrival,  was  surprised  to  see  such  an  abun- 
dance in  the  market,  and  such  joy  in  the  city ;  and  Alyattes, 
to  whom  he  gave  an  account  of  what  he  had  seen,  concluding 
that  his  project  of  reducing  the  place  by  famine  would  never 
succeed,  immediately  raised  the  siege. 

Alyattes  had  two  sons,  CrcEsus  and  Pantaleon.  The  for- 
mer, who  was  the  younger,  and  the  offspring  of  his  second 
wife,  who  was  a  Carian,  succeeded  him  on  his  throne,  b.  c. 
562. 

It  may  be  mentioned,  that  near  the  Lake  Gyggsa,  which  is 
a  few  miles  north  of  Sardis,  now  Sart,  the  immense  mound 
of  earth,  which  his  subjects  raised  to  his  memory,  is  still  to  bo 
seen.  Herodotus,  who  first  makes  mention  of  it,  says,  that 
the  circuit  round  the  base  was  8,800  Greek  feet,  and  the 
width  2,600  feet.  The  lower  part  of  it  was  composed  of 
stone,  which  is  now  covered  by  the  earth  that  has  fallen 
down ;  but  the  mound  still  retains  its  conical  form,  and  rises 
up  like  a  natural  hill.  Its  dimensions  are  much  larger  than 
those  of  any  similar  monuments  in  Great  Britain.  The  cir- 
cuit of  Silburry  hill,  which  forms  so  striking  an  object  on 

*  Beloe,  in  his  translation  of  Herodotus,  says,  "  A  similar  artifice  is  re- 
corded of  one  of  the  Roman  generals,  who,  though  reduced  to  the  ex- 
tremest  want,  ordered  all  the  bread  remaining,  after  a  long  siege,  to  be 
thrown  over  the  walls  amongst  the  enemy.  The  besiegers,  fatigued  and 
exhausted,  imagined  that  their  opponents  were  prepared  to  hold  out 
much  longer,  and  hastily  retired." 


180  HISTORY   OF    THE   LYDIANS. 

the  road  between  Malborough  and  Calne,  is  inconsiderable, 
when  compared  with  this  mound.  Dr.  Chandler  conceives, 
that  a  considerable  treasure  might  be  discovered  if  the  bar- 
rows were  opened.  Other  mounds,  of  various  sizes,  are 
found  near  this,  which  are  conceived  to  have  been  raised  in 
memory  of  the  ancient  kings  of  Lydia. 

CRCESUS. 

This  prince,  whose  name  imports  riches,  and  which  is  be- 
come a  proverb,  is  celebrated  in  history  for  the  immense 
wealth  which  he  possessed.  Some  idea  may  be  formed  how 
great  it  was,  from  what  Herodotus  tells  us  of  his  magnificent 
offering  to  the  temple  of  Delphi.  He  collected,  says  he,  a 
great  number  of  couches,  decorated  with  gold  and  silver, 
many  goblets  of  gold,  and  vests  of  purple.  All  these  he  con- 
sumed together  upon  one  immense  pile,  thinking  by  these 
means  to  render  the  deity  more  auspicious  to  his  hopes  ;  and 
as,  at  the  conclusion  of  this  ceremony,  a  considerable  quantity 
of  gold  had  run  together,  he  formed  of  it  a  number  of  tiles. 
The  larger  of  these  were  eighteen  inches  long,  the  smaller 
nine  ;  but  none  of  them  were  less  than  three  inches  in  thick- 
ness, and  they  were  117  in  number:  four  were  of  the  purest 
gold,  weighing  each  one  talent  and  a  half;  the  rest  were  of 
inferior  quality,  but  of  the  weight  of  two  talents.  He  con- 
structed also  a  lion  of  pure  gold,  which  weighed  ten  talents.* 
It  was  originally  placed  in  the  Delphian  temple,  on  the  above 
gold  tiles  ;  but  when  this  edifice  was  burned,  it  fell  from  its 
place,  and  now  stands  (about  b.  c.  450)  in  the  Corinthian 
treasury :  it  lost,  however,  by  the  fire,  three  talents  and  a 
half  of  its  former  weight. 

Crojsus,  moreover,  sent  to  Delphi  two  large  cisterns,  one 
of  gold,  and  one  of  silver :  that  of  gold  was  placed  on  the 
right  hand,  in  the  vestibule  of  the  temple  ;  that  of  silver  was 
placed  on  the  left.  These  also  were  removed  v/hen  the  tem- 
ple was  consumed  by  fire.  The  golden  goblet  weighed 
nearly  nine  talents,  and  the  silver  was  of  similar  dimensions. 
The  Corinthian  treasury  also  possessed  four  silver  casks, 
w^hich  were  presented  by  Croesus  to  Delphi.  He  presented, 
also,  two  basons,  one  of  gold,  another  of  silver  ;  and  many 
other  minor  presents,  among  which  were  some  silver  dishes, 

*  These  tiles,  the  lion,  and  the  statue  of  the  breadmaker  of  Croesus, 
were,  at  a  subsequent  period,  seized  by  the  Phocians,  to  defray  the  ex- 
penses of  their  holy  war. 


HISTORY   OP   THE   LYDIAN8.  181 

and  the  figure  of  a  woman  in  gold,  three  cubits  high,  who. 
according  to  the  Delphians,  was  the  person  who  made  bread 
for  the  family  of  Croesus.* 

Many  other  offerings  are  said  to  have  been  made  by 
Crcssus,  to  the  temples  of  Thebes,  Ephesus,  Miletus,  etc.,  all 
tending  to  show  how  vast  his  riches  were.  The  sources  of 
his  wealth,  according  to  Strabo,  were  certain  mines,  situated 
between  Pergamus  and  Atarus,  as  also  from  the  river  Pacto- 
lus,  whose  sands,  as  they  rolled  onward,  were  mingled  with 
gold.     But  Solomon  has  well  observed, 

"  Riches  certainly  make  themselves  wings : 
They  fly  away  as  an  eagle  toward  heaven." 

Prov.  xxiii.  5. 

So  Croesus  found.  In  one  day  he  was  stripped  of  all  his 
treasures.  His  history,  indeed,  strikingly  exemphfies  an- 
other truth  which  issued  from  the  golden  mouth  of  the  wise 
man  : 

"  For  riches  are  not  for  ever : 
And  doth  the  crown  endure  to  every  generation  ?" 

Prov.  xxvii.  24. 

How  vain,  then,  is  the  pursuit  of  the  riches  of  this  world ; 
and  how  happy  is  it  for  those  who  can  adopt  the  language 
of  the  poet,  and  say,  in  Christian  sincerity, 

"  I  am  not  conccrn'd  to  know 
What,  to-niorrovv,  fate  will  do : 
'Tis  enough  that  I  can  say, 
I've  possess'd  myself  to-day  ; 
Then,  if  haply  midnight  death 
Seize  my  flesh,  and  stop  my  breath, 
Yet  to-morrow  I  shall  be 
Heir  to  the  best  part  of  me. 

"  Ghitering  stones,  and  golden  things, 
Wealth  and  honours,  that  have  wings, 
I  could  never  call  my  own : 
Riches  that  the  world  bestows, 
She  can  take,  and  I  can  lose ; 

*  Plutarch  says,  that  Croesus  honoured  this  person,  from  an  honest 
emotion  of  gratitude.  Alyattes,  the  father  of  Croesus,  married  a  second 
wife,  by  whom  he  had  other  children.  His  first  wife  wished  to  remove 
Croesus  out  of  the  way,  and  gave  the  female  baker  a  dose  of  poison, 
charging  her  to  put  it  into  the  bread  which  she  made  for  Croesus.  The 
woman  informed  him  of  ihis,  and  gave  the  poisoned  broad  to  the  queen's 
children,  by  which  means  he  succeeded  his  father;  and  thus  acknow- 
ledged the  fidelity  of  the  woman. 
VOL.  n.  16 


18^  HISTORY   OF  THE   LYDIANS. 

But  the  treasures  that  are  mine 

Lie  afar  beyond  her  line. 

When  I  view  my  spacious  soul, 

And  survey  myself  a  whole, 

And  enjoy  myself  alone, 

I'm  a  kingdom  of  my  own." — Watts. 

Crossiis  was  thirty-five  years  old  when  he  beg-an  to  reign. 
He  shared  the  throne  at  first  with  his  elder  brother,  till  a 
Lydian  related  the  following  apologue  :  "  The  sun  procures 
mankind  all  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  without  his  heat  it 
would  produce  nothing ;  but  if  there  were  two  suns,  there 
would  be  reason  to  fear  that  every  thing  would  be  burned 
and  destroyed."  After  this,  he  deposed  his  brother,  and  put 
to  death  his  principal  adherent,  which  was  probably  the 
mother  of  Pantaleon,  who  had  sought  his  life. 

During  the  first  nine  years  of  his  reign,  Croesus  seems  to 
have  progressively  subdued  almost  all  the  nations  which  were 
situated  on  this  side  the  river  Halys.  Among  these.  Hero- 
dotus enumerates  the  Phrygians,  Mysians,  Mariandinians, 
Chalybians,  Paphlagonians,  Thracians,  Thynians,  Bithy- 
nians,  Carians,  lonians,  Dorians,  Cohans,  and  Pamphylians. 
The  Cilicians  and  the  Lycians  escaped  his  yoke. 

The  first  act  of  hostilities  in  which  Crcesus  was  engaged, 
was  with  the  Ephesians,  whose  capital  he  besieged.  While 
engaged  beneath  its  walls,  the  inhabitants  of  Ephesus  com- 
mitted an  act  which  shows  the  debasing  nature  of  ancient 
idolatry.  They  made  a  solemn  dedication  of  their  city  to 
Minerva,  connecting  their  walls  with  a  rope  to  the  temple  of 
their  goddess !  The  object  of  the  ancients,  by  thus  conse- 
crating their  towns,  was  to  detain  their  deities  by  force,  and 
prevent  their  departure.  It  was  believed,  that  when  a  city 
was  on  the  point  of  being  taken,  the  deities  abandoned  it. 
This  belief  seems  to  have  been  very  general.  Thus  ^schy- 
lus  makes  Eteocles  say, 

"The  gods,  they  say,  prepare 
To  quit  their  seats,  and  leave  a  vanquish'd  town." 

The  poet  Virgil,  also,  makes  MnesiS  leave  the  city  of  Troy, 
and  settle  his  household  gods  in  another  country : 

"  He  said,  and  brought  me,  from  their  blest  abodes, 
The  venerable  statues  of  the  gods, 
With  ancient  Vesta,  from  the  sacred  choir, 
The  wreaths  and  relics  of  the  immortal  fire," 

Happy  are  our  eyes,  that  they  are  not  left  in  such  darkness 


HISTORY   OF   THE   LYDIANS.  183 

as  this !  Thrice  happy  are  Ave,  inasmuch  as  we  know  that 
our  God  is  not  confined  to  temples  made  with  hands — that, 
as  Milton  expresses  it, 

" his  omnipresence  fills 

Land,  sea,  and  air,  and  every  kind  that  lives, 
Fomented  by  his  virtual  power,  and  warmed," 

and  that  he  is  ever  present  to  those  that  seek  him  in  sincerity 
and  truth,  to  deliver  them  out  of  all  their  troubles. 

About  the  tenth  year  of  his  reign,  b.  c.  552,  and  in  the 
height  of  his  grandeur  and  prosperity,  Croesus  was  visited  by 
several  sages.  Among  the  rest,  Solon,  the  celebrated  Athe- 
nian legislator,  presented  himself  at  his  court.  He  was  re- 
ceived on  his  arrival  with  hospitality,  and  entertained  in  his 
palace.  In  a  few  days,  the  king  directed  his  servants  to  at- 
tend Solon  to  the  different  repositories  of  his  wealth,  and  to 
show  him  their  contents.  When  he  had  examined  them 
all,  Croesus  thus  addressed  him :  "  My  Athenian  guest,  the 
voice  of  fame  speaks  loudly  of  your  wisdom.  1  have  heard 
much  of  your  travels,  that  you  have  been  led  by  a  philosophic 
spirit  to  visit  a  considerable  portion  of  the  globe.  I  am  hence 
induced  to  inquire  of  you,  what  man,  of  all  whom  you  have 
beheld,  seemed  to  you  most  happy  ?" 

This  inquiry  of  Cra3sus  was  prompted  by  vanity.  He  ex- 
pected that  Solon,  having  observed  his  wealth,  and  seeing  so 
much  grandeur  around  him,  would  have  pronounced  him  to 
have  been  the  happiest  man.  But  Solon,  though  a  heathen, 
knew  the  human  heart  better  than  this,  and,  scorning  flattery, 
he  replied  :  "  I  think  that  Tellus,  the  Athenian,  best  deserved 
the  appellation  of  happy P 

Crossus  was  astonished,  and  asked  on  what  the  claims  of 
Tellus  to  this  distinction  were  founded  ? 

"  Because,"  the  sage  rephed,  "  under  the  protection  of  a 
most  excellent  form  of  government,  Tellus  had  many  virtuous 
and  amiable  children  ;  he  saw  their  offspring,  and  they  all 
survived  him :  at  the  close  of  a  prosperous  life,  we  celebrated 
his  funeral  with  every  circumstance  of  honour.  In  a  contest 
with  some  of  their  neighbours  at  Eleusis,  he  flew  to  the  as- 
sistance of  his  country  ;  he  contributed  to  the  defeat  of  the 
enemy,  and  met  death  in  the  field  of  glory.  The  Athenians 
publicly  buried  him  in  the  place  where  he  fell ;  and  his  fune- 
ral pomp  was  magnificently  attended." 

At  this  point,  Croesus  interrupted  the  sage,  and  desired  to 


184  HISTORY   OF   THE   LYLIANS. 

know,  whom  next  to  Tellus  he  esteemed  most  happy,  expect- 
ing that  the  answer  would  now  be  favourable  to  himself. 

Solon  replied  thus  :  "  Cleobis  and  Bito.  They  were  Ar- 
gives  by  birth,  fortunate  in  their  circumstances,  and  so  re- 
markable for  their  bodily  prowess,  that  they  had  both  of  them 
been  crowned  as  conquerors  in  their  public  games.  It  is  far- 
ther related  of  them,  that  on  a  certain  festival  of  Juno,  their 
mother  was  to  have  been  carried  to  the  temple  in  a  chariot 
drawn  by  oxen.  The  beasts  were  not  ready*  for  the  pur- 
pose, but  the  young  men  instantly  took  the  yokes  upon  them- 
selves, and  drew  their  mother  in  the  carriage  to  the  temple, 
through  a  space  of  forty-five  furlongs.  Having  performed 
this  in  the  presence  of  innumerable  spectators,  they  died,  and 
thus  their  lives  in  a  manner  may  be  accounted  singularly 
happy.  In  this  event,  the  deity  made  it  appear  that  death  is 
a  greater  blessing  to  mankind  than  life.  The  surrounding 
mukitude  proclaimed  their  praise  ;  the  men  commended  their 
prowess  ;  the  women  envied  their  mother,  who  was  delighted 
with  the  deed  itself  and  the  glory  which  attended  it.  Stand- 
ing before  the  shrine,  she  implored  the  divinity,  in  whose 
honour  her  sons'  exertions  had  been  made,  to  grant  them  the 
greatest  blessing  man  could  receive.  After  her  prayers,  and 
when  the  succeeding  sacrifice  and  festival  were  ended,  the 
young  men  retired  to  rest  within  the  temple  ;  but  they  rose 
no  more.  The  Argives  have  preserved  at  Delphi,  the  fig- 
ures of  Cleobis  and  Bito,  as  of  men  deserving  superior  dis- 
tinction." 

Croesus  w^as  mortified  at  this  reply,  and  impatiently  de- 
manded whether  he  might  not  be  reckoned  among  the  num- 
ber of  the  happy  ? 

"  Croesus,"  the  sage  rephed,  "  you  inquire  of  me  my  senti- 
ments of  human  nature  ;  of  me  who  consider  the  divine 
beings,  as  viewing  men  with  invidious  and  mahgnant  aspects." 
(Pause  for  a  moment.  Christian  reader,  and  contrast  this  re- 
sponse of  the  ancient  sage  with  what  is  taught  in  the  Bible : 
there  we  learn  that  '•  God  is  love.")  Solon  proceeded  :  "In 
the  space  of  a  protracted  life,  how  many  things  occur,  which 
we  see  with  reluctance,  and  support  with  anguish.  I  will 
suppose  the  term  of  human  life  to  extend  to  seventy  years ; 
which  period,  if  we  except  the  intercalatory  months,  will 
amount  to  25,200  days  ;  or,  if  we  add  this  month  to  each  al- 

*  Servius,  in  his  commentaries  on  the  works  of  Virgil,  says,  that  the 
want,  of  oxen  on  this  occasion  was  on  account  of  a  pestilential  malady, 
wliich  had  destroyed  all  the  cattle  belonging  to  Argos. 


mSTORY  OF   THE   LYDIANS.  185 

ternate  year,  we  shall  then  have  thirty-five  additional  months, 
or  1,250  days.  The  whole  seventy  years  will,  therefore,  con- 
sist of  26,450  days  ;  yet  of  this  number,  every  day  will  he 
productive  of  some  new  incident.  Thus,  CrcBsus,  our  nature 
appears  a  continued  series  of  calamity.  I  see  you  as  the  sove- 
reign of  many  nations,  and  possessed  of  extraordinary  afflu- 
ence and  power.  But  I  shall  not  he  able  to  give  you  a  satis- 
factory answer  to  the  question  you  propose,  till  I  know  that 
your  scene  of  life  shall  have  closed  with  tranquillity.  The 
man  of  affluence  is  not  more  happy  than  the  man  of  poverty, 
unless,  in  addition  to  his  wealth,  his  end  of  life  be  fortunate. 
We  often  discern  misery  in  the  midst  of  splendid  plenty, 
whilst  real  happiness  is  found  in  humble  stations.  The  rich 
man  who  knows  not  happiness,  surpasses  but  in  two  things 
the  humble,  but  more  fortunate  character  with  whom  we  may 
compare  him.  Yet  there  are  a  variety  of  incidents  in  which 
the  latter  excels  the  former.  The  rich  man  can  gratify  his 
passions,  and  has  little  to  apprehend  from  accidental  injuries. 
The  poor  man's  condition,  exempts  him  entirely  from  these 
sources  of  affliction.  He,  moreover,  possesses  strength  and 
health,  is  a  stranger  to  misfortune,  is  blessed  with  children, 
and  is  amiable  in  himself  If,  at  the  end  of  such  a  life,  his 
death  be  fortunate,  this,  O  Croesus,  is  the  truly  happy  man, 
the  object  of  your  inquiry.  Call  no  man  happy  till  you  know 
the  nature  of  his  death  ;*  he  is  at  best  but  fortunate.  All 
these  requisites  for  happiness  it  is  in  no  man's  power  to  ob- 
tain ;  for  no  one  region  can  supply  them :  it  affords,  perhaps, 
the  enjoyment  of  some,  but  it  is  remarkable  for  the  absence 
of  others.  That  which  yields  the  more  numerous  sources 
of  gratification,  is  so  far  the  best :  such,  also,  is  the  imperfec- 
tion of  man,  excellent  in  some  respects,  weak  and  defective 
in  others.  He  who  possesses  the  rfiost  advantages,  and  after- 
wards leaves  the  world  with  composure,  he  alone,  O  Crossus, 
is  entitled  to  our  admiration.     It  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  look 

♦  This  idea  seems  to  have  been  a  favourite  one  with  ancient  heathen 
"writers.     Thus  Sophocles,  in  his  CEdipus  Tyrannus,  says : 

"  Let  mortals  hence  be  taught  to  look  beyond 
The  present  time,  nor  dare  to  say,  a  man 
Is  happy  till  the  last  decisive  hour 
Shall  close  his  life  without  the  taste  of  woe," 

In  the  Andromache  of  Euripides,  the  idea  is  also  met  with : 

"  We  never  ou^ht  to  call 
Frail  mortals  happy,  at  their  latest  hour, 
Till  we  behold  them  to  the  shades  descend." 
16* 


186  HISTORY   OF  THE   LYDIANS. 

to  the  event  of  things  ;  for  the  deity  often  overwhelms  with 
misery  those  who  have  formerly  been  placed  at  the  summit 
of  felicity." 

Croesus  was  mortified  at  this  speech,  and  afterwards  dis- 
missed the  philosopher  with  indifference. 

Many  of  the  sentiments  which  the  sage  uttered  are  worthy 
to  be  treasured  up  in  our  memories  ;  but  fall  very  short,  in- 
deed, of  the  lessons  taught  in  the  Divine  system  of  Christian 
philosophy.     By  this  we  are  taught  that, 

*'  He  is  the  happy  man,  whose  life  e'en  now 
Shows  somewhat  of  that  happier  life  to  come; 
Who,  doom'd  to  an  obscure,  but  tranquil  state, 
Is  pleas'd  with  it,  and,  were  he  free  to  choose, 
Would  make  his  fate  his  choice  ;  whom  peace,  the  fruit 
Of  virtue,  and  whom  virtue,  fruit  of  faith, 
Prepare  tbr  happiness :  bespeak  him  one, 
Content  indeed  to  sojourn  while  he  must 
Below  the  skies,  but  having  there  his  home."— Cowper. 

At  this  period,  the  celebrated  ^Esop  was  also  at  the  court 
of  CrcEsus,  where  he  was  much  respected.  He  was  grieved 
at  the  discharge  of  Solon  ;  and,  conversing  with  him  as  a 
friend,  "  You  see,  Solon,"  said  he,  "that  we  must  not  come 
nigh  kings,  or  w^e  must  entertam  them  with  things  agreeable 
tolhem.""  "That  is  not  the  point,"  rejoined  Solon;"  you 
should  either  say  nothing  to  them,  or  tell  them  what  is  use- 
ful ;"  on  which  Bayle  remarks  :  "  I  confess,  that  this  caution 
of  ^sop  argues  a  man  well  acquainted  with  the  court  and 
great  men  ;"but  Solon's  answer  is  the  true  lesson  of  divines, 
who  direct  the  consciences  of  princes." 

After  Solon's  departure,  Croesus,  about  the  eleventh  year 
of  his  reign,  w^as,  according  to  Herodotus,  visited  by  a  judg- 
ment from  God,  in  the  untimely  death  of  his  second  and  fa- 
vourite son  Atys.  This  historian  concludes,  that  he  was 
visited  with  this  judgment,  because  he  thought  himself  of  all 
men  the  most  happy. 

The  after-life  of  Croesus  was,  indeed  disastrous,  and  ended 
in  his  own  captivity.  Having  spent  two  years  in  mourning 
for  the  loss  of  his  son,  his  grief  Avas  at  length  suspended  by 
the  increasing  greatness  of  the  Persian  empire,  as  well  as  by 
that  of  Cyrus,  son  of  Cambyses,  who  had  succeeded  to  the 
rule  of  the  Persian  dominions.  To  restrain  the  power  of 
Persia,  therefore,  before  it  became  too  great,  w^as  the  object 
of  his  soUcitude.  Before  he  entered,  however,  upon  his  ex- 
pedition, he  determined  to  make  trial  of  the  most  celebrated 


HISTORY   OF   THE   LYDIANS.  187 

oracles  of  antiquity  ;  at  Delphi,  Phocis,  Dodona,  and  those  of 
Amphiarus,  Proplionius,  the  Milesian  Branchidse,  in  Greece; 
and  of  Ammon  in  Libya  ;  in  order  to  form  a  judgment  of  the 
best,  before  he  consulted  them  as  to  the  fitness,  or  unfitness, 
of  an  expedition  against  the  Persians. 

The  trial  was  as  follows.  He  sent  different  messengers 
from  Sardis,  to  these  different  oracles,  to  inquire  what  Croe- 
sus, the  son  of  Alyattes,  was  doing  on  the  day  they  were  ac- 
tually consulted  ;  which  he  appointed  to  be  the  hundredth 
day  after  their  departure.  On  this  day  he  cut  into  pieces  a 
tortoise  and  a  lamb,  and  boiled  them  together  himself,  in  a 
brazen  pan  with  a  brazen  cover,  an  employment  equally  un- 
accountable and  difficult  to  divine. 

The  responses  of  the  other  oracles  are  not  recorded  ;  but 
Apollo's,  of  Delphi,  were  very  appropriate.  The  Pythian 
priestess  replied  in  heroic  verse : 

"I  know  the  number  of  the  Libyan  sand, 
The  ocean's  measure  ;  1  can  penetrate 
The  secret  of  the  silent,  or  the  dumb, 
I  smell  the  ascending  odour  of  a  lamb, 
And  tortoise,  in  a  brazen  caldron  boiled ; 
Brass  lies  beneath,  and  brass  above  the  flesh." 

LiTTLEBURY. 

A  similar  answer  was  given  by  the  oracle  of  the  hero  Am- 
phiaraus  and  Croesus  approving  of  them  as  the  most  saga- 
cious, sent  them  abundance  of  the  richest  and  most  magnifi- 
cent offerings,  some  of  which  are  mentioned  on  page  1 80. 

The  various  oracles  mentioned  by  Herodotus  in  the  course 
of  his  history,  and  their  numerous  responses,  form  the  most 
curious  and  valuable  portion  of  it,  in  a  religious  light.  Many 
of  them  were  doubtless  ambiguous  and  delusive,  originating 
in  the  frauds  and  impostures  of  the  priests.  Such  was  that  which 
induced  Pyrrhus,  king  of  Epirus,  to  invade  Italy  which  was 
given  thus ;  "  Either  you  may  conquer  the  Romans,  or  the 
Romans  may  conquer  you."  On  the  other  hand,  several  of 
the  responses  were  so  determinate,  explicit,  and  wonderfully 
fulfilled,  that,  if  the  facts  be  well  ascertained,  they  cannot  be 
ascribed  solely  to  priestcraft.  Such  was  the  response  con- 
cerning the  dumb  son  of  Croesus :  "  that  in  an  evil  day,  he 
first  should  speak."  This  exactly  came  to  pass.  In  the  ex- 
perimental test  of  the  boiled  lamb  and  tortoise  in  a  brazen 
vessel,  the  failure  of  other  oracles  to  answer  seems  to  affirm 
the  account  of  the  two  that  succeeded.  The  oracle  of  Apollo  at 
Delphi,  in  the  territory  of  Phocis,  and  of  Amphiaraus  in  that 


188  HISTORY  OF   THE  LYDIANS. 

of  Boetia,  could  not  possibly  have  had  any  intercourse  on  the 
same  day  and  hour.  Lucian,  indeed,  ridicules  the  tricks 
played  to  make  trial  of  Apollo's  sagacity  ;  but  ridicule  is  no 
argument,  and  the  oblations  of  Croesus  seems  to  leave  no  room 
for  doubting  either  the  fact  or  the  secrecy  of  Croesus  ;  who, 
in  so  important  a  case,  would  not  be  likely  to  entrust  his 
scheme  of  trial  to  any  one,  before  the  day  the  experiment  was 
to  be  made.  PuUen  and  Dr.  Hales,  therefore,  consider  that 
there  was  some  supernatural  agency  in  such  cases. 

Rollin  ascribes  the  responses  to  demons ;  God,  says  he, 
permitting  them  sometimes  to  tell  truth,  in  order  to  punish 
the  blindness  of  their  votaries.  From  their  supposed  know- 
ledge of  futurity,  indeed  the  demons  chiefly  derived  their 
name  Daimones^  from  Daio. 

Dr,  Hales  says,  the  Pythian  Apollo  seems  to  have  been  the 
old  serpent  himself,  Acts  xvi.  16 ;  deceiving  the  whole 
heathen  world  by  his  lying  oracles,  especially  before  the 
coming  of  Christ.  He  was  called  Baalzebub  at  Ekron,  in 
Palestine,  where  he  delivered  oracles,  as  may  be  seen  from 
2  Kings  i.  1 — 4  ;  and  he  was  called  in  our  Lord's  time, 
"Beelzebub;"  or,  "the  Prince  of  Demons,"  Matt.  ix.  34. 
It  is  remarkable  that  our  Lord  did  not  undeceive  the  Jews, 
nor  correct  their  error,  if  it  were  such :  rather  he  assumed 
the  fact,  and  refuted  their  malignity  upon  their  own  prin- 
ciples. 

The  established  credit  of  oracles  among  the  heathen,  could 
only  have  been  formed  on  experimental  knowledge  of  their 
veracity  in  particular  cases.  This  argument  is  urged  by 
Cicero,  in  favour  of  the  Pythian  Oracle ;  and  the  Libyan 
oracle  of  Ammon  derived  its  name  from  Amoun,  "  Truth." 

The  total  cessation  of  oracles  about  the  birth  of  Christ  (a 
fact  confessed  by  their  greatest  advocates,  Cicero,  Plutarch, 
etc.)  forms  the  opinion  that  all  the  preceding  responses  could 
not  have  been  the  result  of  mere  priestcraft,  or  human  impos- 
ture. Why  these  lying  oracles,  however,  which  generally 
sheltered  themselves  under  ambiguities  and  obscurities  of  ex- 
pression, should  sometimes  tell  remarkable  truths,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Scripture  demoniacs,  who  confessed  the  Divinity 
of  Christ,  of  the  damsel  at  Philippi,  of  the  responses  to  Croe- 
sus, etc.,  may  be  ascribed  to  the  control  of  Almighty  God,  on 
particular  occasions  of  consequence,  compelling  them  to  utter 
truth.  The  prophecies  of  Balaam  show  that  bad  men  were 
sometimes  commissioned  to  deliver  true  prophecies,  as  we 
learn  from  his  words  to  Balak :    "  Behold,  I  have  received 


HISTORY   OF   THE   LYDIANS.  180 

commandment  to  bless :  and  he  hath  blessed  ;  and  I  cannot 
reverse  it,"  Numb.  xxii.  20. 

After  Croesus  had  presented  his  offerings  to  the  oracles  of 
Delphi,  and  the  hero  Amphiaraus,  he  consulted  them  again, 
whether  he  should  invade  the  Persians  ?  and  whether  he 
should  procure  an  army  of  auxiliaries?  Both  agreed  in  the 
purport  of  their  answer,  that  "  if  he  invaded  the  Persians, 
he  should  destroy  a  great  empire ;"  and  they  advised  him  to 
make  friends  of  the  most  powerful  of  the  Greeks.  The  reply 
of  the  Delphic  oracle  was  as  follows : 

"By  crossing  the  Halys,  Croesus  will  destroy  a  great  empire." 

This  reply  was  atbest  but  ambiguous,  and  Croesus  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  satisfied  with  it ;  and  therefore,  after 
making  the  inhabitants  of  Delphi  a  present  of  two  staters  of 
gold  each,*  he  consuhed  the  oracle  again,  "  whether  his 
monarchy  should  last  long."  The  Pythian  gave  this  re- 
sponse : 

"  When  o'er  the  Medes,  a  mule  shall  rule  as  king, 
Learn  thou  the  name  of  coward  to  despise ; 
Then  on  thy  soft  feet,  Lydian  thou  must  fly, 
The  pebbly  Hermus,  and  no  longer  stay." — Littlebury. 

Although  this  oracle  was  as  ambiguous  as  the  former,  Croe- 
sus now  prepared  for  war.  He  seems,  indeed,  to  have  been 
satisfied  that  this  was  a  definite  declaration  in  his  favour.  He 
was  confident,  says  Herodotus,  that  a  mule  would  never  be 
sovereign  of  the  Medes,  and  that  consequently  he  could  have 
nothing  to  fear  for  himself  or  his  posterity. 

In  prosecuting  the  war,  the  first  object  of  Croesus  was  to 
enter  into  an  alliance  with  the  Athenians,  who  at  that  time 
had  Pisastratus  at  their  head  ;  and  with  the  Lacedemonians  ; 
who  were  the  two  most  powerful  states  of  Greece. 

Thus,  deluded  by  these  ambiguous  and  fallacious  oracles, 
Croesus  prepared  to  lead  his  forces  into  Cappadocia,  in  full 
expectation  of  conquering  Cyrus,  and  of  becoming  master  of 
Persia. 

While  he  was  employed  in  preparing  for  this  expedition 
a  certain  Lydian,  says  Herodotus,  held  in  high  repute  among 
his  countrymen  for  wisdom  and  prudence,  thus  addressed 
Croesus:  "You  meditate,  O  prince,  an  attack  upon  men  who 
are  clothed  with  the  skins  of  animals ;  who,  inhabiting  a 

*  The  gold  Attic  stater  was  equal  to  twenty  drahms,  or  fifteen  shil- 
lings and  five  pence. 


J;9<J  HISTORY   OF   THE    LYDIANS. 

country  but  little  cultivated,  live  on  what  they  can  procure,  not 
on  what  they  wish  :  strangers  to  the  taste  of  wine,  they  drink 
water  only  ;*  even  figs  are  a  delicacy  with  which  they  are 
unacquainted,  and  all  our  luxuries  are  entirely  unknown  to 
them.  If  you  conquer  them,  what  can  you  take  from  such 
as  have  nothing  ?  but,  if  you  shall  be  defeated,  it  becomes  you 
to  think,  of  what  you,  on  your  part,  wall  be  deprived.  When 
they  shall  once  have  tasted  our  delicacies,  we  shall  never  be 
able  to  get  rid  of  them.  So  far,  therefore,  from  beginning  a 
war  Avith  them,  we  ought  to  be  thankful  to  the  gods  lor  not  in- 
spiring the  Persians  with  the  wish  of  invading  Lydia. 

Croesus  heard  this  admonition,  but  regarded  it  not.  He 
now  assembled  his  forces,  crossed  the  river  Halys,  which 
formed  the  boundary  of  the  Lydian  and  Median  dominion, 
invaded  Cappadocia,  in  Syria,  ravaged  the  country,  and  took 
Pteria,  the  capital  city,  not  far  from  Sinope.  Near  this  place 
he  Avas  met  by  Cyrus,  and  a  sanguinary  battle  took  place  ; 
but  without  any  decided  advantage  on  either  side.  Crossus, 
however,  finding  that  his  army  was  inferior  in  number,  and 
that  Cyrus,  nevertheless,  did  not  seem  disposed  to  renew  the 
engagement  the  next  day,  retreated  without  molestation  to 
Sardis,  determined  to  apply  for  assistance  to  his  confederates, 
Amasis,  king  of  Egypt,  the  Lacedemonians,  and  Labynetus,  or 
Nabonadius,  king  of  Babylon,  with  whom  he  entered  into  an 
offensive  and  defensive  alliance.  The  date  of  this  battle  is 
fixed  by  Dr.  Hales  at  b.  c.  548. 

About  this  time,  the  king  of  Babylon  joined  Croesus,  and 
brought  with  him  a  considerable  treasure,  for  the  purpose  of 
hiring  mercenaries.  They  raised  a  great  army  from  Asia 
Minor,  Ionia,  Thrace,  and  Egypt,  and  assembled  at  the  river 
Pactolus,  waiting  for  the  Lacedemonians. 

Intelhgence  of  these  events  reached  Cyrus,  and  with  his 
usual  promptness  and  expedition,  he  marched  forw^ard  to  meet 
them.  The  hostile  forces  met  at  Thybarra,  or  on  the  plains 
of  Thymbra,  near  Sardis,  the  capital  of  Lydia.  Croesus,  avail- 
ing himself  of  his  immense  superiority,  extended  his  wings, 
consisting  of  cavalry  and  light  troops,  to  outflank  the  Persians, 
while  the  Egyptians  and  the  other  heavy  armed  soldiers  at- 

♦  Larcher  observes  that  Xenophon,  as  well  as  Herodotus,  informs  us 
that  the  Persians  drank  only  water ;  nevertheless,  the  former,  in  another 
place,  says,  that  the  Persians  were  addicted  to  wine.  In  this,  however, 
there  is  no  contradiction :  when  these  Persians  were  poor,  a  little  satis- 
fied them ;  rendered  rich  by  the  conquests  of  Cyrus  and  his  successors, 
luxury  and  all  its  comcomitant  vices  were  introduced  amongst  them. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   LYDIANS.  191 

tacked  them  in  front.  But  when  the  Lydian  cavalry  came 
to  the  charge,  their  horses  took  fright  at  the  camels*  on  which 
the  Persian  archers  were  mounted,  and  fell  into  disorder. 
Cyrus  seized  the  decisive  moment  to  charge  in  turn,  and  after 
a  faint  resistance,  the  cavalry  of  Lydia  were  seen  flying  in  dis- 
order over  the  plain. 

The  charge  of  the  Persian  war-chariots  completed  the  rout 
of  the  Lydian  wings,  and  Cyrus,  believing  the  victory  won, 
hastened  forward  in  pursuit  of  the  fugitives  ;  but  this  move- 
ment had  nearly  changed  the  fate  of  the  day :  the  Persian 
war-chariots  failed  to  make  any  impression  on  the  close  ranks 
and  large  shields  of  the  Egyptians  ;  they  were  driven  back, 
indeed,  with  great  slaughter,  and  the  Egyptians,  advancing 
in  their  turn,  compelled  the  central  division  of  the  Persians  to 
give  way.  Cyrus  returned  from  the  pursuit,  just  in  time  to 
save  his  centre  from  destruction.  He  at  once  attacked  the 
Egyptians  in  the  rear,  but  these  brave  men  faced  about,  and 
maintained  the  unequal  combat  with  great  valour.  They 
were  at  length  induced,  however,  to  surrender  on  honourable 
conditions,  and  they  entered  into  the  service  of  Cyrus,  with 
the  stipulation  that  they  should  not  be  compelled  to  turn  their 
arms  against  Croesus. 

The  Lydians,  with  their  monarch,  retreated  to  their  capital 
city,  Sardis.  The  next  morning,  Cyrus  also  marched  thither, 
bringing  with  him  his  machines  and  scaling-ladders,  in  ap- 
pearance as  if  he  intended  to  assault  the  city  in  form.  The 
strength  of  Sardis  afforded  Croesus  ground  for  hope,  that  if  a 
siege  could  be  protracted  until  winter,  the  Persians  might  be 
compelled  to  quit  the  field,  and  thus  time  might  be  gained  for 
summoning  his  allies  to  his  aid.  But  his  hopes  were  fallacious. 
The  next  night,  according  to  Xenophon,  Cyrus  sent  a  chosen 
band  of  Persians  and  Chaldeans,  to  climb  the  steepest  and 
most  rugged  part  of  the  ascent,  under  the  conduct  of  a  Per- 
sian guide,  who  knew  a  bye-path  leading  from  the  citadel  to 
the  river.  As  soon  as  they  showed  themselves  in  possession 
of  the  heights,  the  Lydians  fled  from  the  walls,  and  Cyrus  en- 
tered the  city,  took  Croesus  prisoner,  and  humanely  protected 
the  city  from  pillage,  upon  the  surrender  of  their  wealth  and 
treasures.! 

*  The  natural  antipathy  of  the  horse  to  the  camel  is  affirmed  by  the 
ancients,  but  it  is  disproved  by  experience,  and  by  the  testimony  of  ori- 
entials.  [t  may  be  observed,  however,  that  the  horses  of  Croosus  had 
never  before  seen  that  animal, 

t  Herodotus  says,  that  the  city  was  taken  by  the  means  of  a  Mardian, 


192  HISTORY   OF   THE   LYDIANS. 

Herodotus  records,  that  during  the  storming  of  the  city,  a 
Persian  meeting  Croesus,  was,  through  ignorance  of  his  per- 
son, about  to  kill  him.  The  king,  overwhelmed  by  his  calam- 
ity, took  no  care  to  avoid  the  blow  ;  but  a  son  of  Croesus, 
who  was  dumb,  overcome  with  astonishment  and  terror,  ex- 
claimed aloud,  "Oh  man,  do  not  kill  Croesus!"  This  was 
the  first  time,  he  adds,  he  had  ever  articulated,  but  he  retained 
the  facuhy  of  speech  from  this  event  as  long  as  he  lived. 

This  event  also  is,  by  Herodotus,  made  to  fulfil  the  predic- 
tion of  an  oracle,  which  Croesus  had  consulted — Whether  his 
son  should  ever  come  to  the  use  of  his  tongue,  and  which  has 
been  thus  translated : — 

"  Oh,  too  imprudent  Lydian,  wish  no  more 
The  charming  sound  of  a  son's  voice  to  hear; 
Better  for  thee  could  things  rest  as  they  are ; 
For  in  an  evil  day  he  first  shall  speak." — Littlebury. 

The  story,  as  handed  down  to  us  by  the  historian,  has  been 
happily  turned  to  account  by  one  of  our  poets,  in  the  rebuke 
of  infidelity.  Hayley,  in  his  Essay,  thus  reprobates  the  irre- 
ligious spirit  in  which  Gibbon  has  penned  his  history. 

"  My  verse 
Breathes  forth  an  honest  sigh  of  deep  concern, 
And  pities  genius,  when  his  wild  career 
Gives  faith  a  wound,  and  innocence  a  fear. 
Humility  herself,  divinely  mild, 
SubUme  religion's  meek  and  modest  child, 
.  Like  the  dumb  son  of  Croesus,  in  the  strife, 

Where  force  assailed  his  father's  sacred  life, 
Breaks  silence,  and  with  filial  duty  warm, 
Bids  thee  revere  her  parent's  hallowed  form." 

According  to  Herodotus,  the  conqueror  ordered  Croesus  to 
be  bound  in  fetters,  with  fourteen  young  Lydians,  and  to  be 
burned  alive,  on  a  great  pile  of  wood ;  from  which  death  he 
was  rescued,  by  thrice  invoking  the  name  of  Solon  in  his  dis- 
tress, which  occasioned  Cyrus  to  relent ;  and  by  a  miraculous 
shower  of  rain,  which  extinguished  the  flames,  when  all  hu- 
man efforts  had  proved  vain.     But  all  this  must  be  looked 

who  had,  on  the  preceding  day,  observed  a  Lydian  descend  to  recover 
his  helmet,  which  had  fallen  down  the  precipice.  So  much  of  the  marvel- 
lous, however,  surrounds  his  history  in  this  section,  that  it  is  difficult  to 
follow  him:  The  account,  moreover,  which  Xenophon  gives,  seems  per- 
fectly consistent  with  truth.  These  remarks  are  made,  because  historians 
generally  have  followed  Herodotus  in  this  matter,  apparently  without 
any  effort  to  distinguish  between  fiction  and  facts. 


HISTORY   OF    THE   LYDIANS,  193 

upon  as  fabulous.*  Cyrus  was  a  merciful  prince,  and  he  does 
not  appear  to  have  acted  contrary  to  his  character  on  this  oc- 
casion. How  kindly  disposed  he  was,  indeed,  toward  the 
captive,  with  whom  he  was  connected  by  affinity,  appears 
from  Herodotus  himself  He  relates,  that  before  the  battle, 
Cyrus  issued  orders  to  put  to  death  all  who  should  resist, 
"  Crossus  himself  excepted,"  who,  whatever  opposition  he 
might  make,  was  to  be  taken  alive.  Immediately  after,  he 
says,  that  Cyrus  promised  to  grant  all  his  wishes ;  that  he 
treated  him  with  the  utmost  kindness  and  familiarity :  con- 
suked  him,  and  kept  him  constantly  about  his  person ;  and 
that  before  his  own  death,  he  recommended  Croesus  to  the 
protection  of»Cambyses,  who  succeeded  him  in  his  empire. 

Xenophon  relates  an  interesting  conversation  between  the 
conqueror  and  the  captive,  immediately  after  he  was  taken, 
which  seems  to  exhibit  the  true  nature  of  the  treatment  which 
Croesus  received  at  the  hands  of  Cyrus.  Alluding  to  the  sage 
response  of  the  oracle  he  had  consuked,  about  two  years  after 
the  death  of  his  favourite  son,  Atys,  which  reads  thus ;, 

"  Know  thyself,  Croesus,  and  thou  shalt  happily  pass  through  life," 

CrcESus  exclaimed,  "  For  my  ignorance,  then,  of  myself, 
and  of  you,  am  I  now  justly  punished.  Now,  indeed,  at 
length,  I  know  myself!  But  do  you  think  Apollo  told  truth? 
that  I  shall  be  happy  in  knowing  myself  I  ask  you  this  ques- 
tion, because  you  seem  to  me  best  qualified  to  form  a  judg- 
ment on  this  subject  in  the  present  posture  of  affairs,  for  you 
are  able  to  effect  it." 

Cyrus  answered,  "  Give  me  rather  your  advice  on  this  sub- 
ject, Croesus,  for  when  I  consider  your  former  happiness,  I 
really  pity  you  ;  and  I  now  restore  to  you  your  wife  and  your 
daughters,  for  I  hear  you  have  some,  and  your  friends,  and 
your  attendants,  and  your  table  to  be  kept  as  usually ;  but  I 
prohibit  you  from  wars  and  battles." 

*  The  historian  may  have  related  this  from  his  knowledge  of  the  an- 
cient usages :  for  that  such  sacrifices  were  made,  we  gather  from  the 
poets ;  thus  Achilles,  in  the  Iliad,  sacrifices  twelve  Trojan  youths  at  the 
funeral  pile  of  Patroclus : 

"  Then  last  of  all,  and  horrible  to  tell 
Sad  sacrifice,  twelve  Trojan  captives  fell." 

Again — 

"  And  twelve  sad  victims  of  the  Trojan  line, 
Sacred  to  vengeance,  instant  shall  expire, 
Their  lives  effus'd  around  thy  funeral  pyre." 
VOL-  n-  1 7 


194  HISTORY   OF   THE   LYDIANS, 

"  In  truth,"  rejoined  Croesus,  "  you  need  not  desire  to  give 
any  further  answer  about  promoting  my  happiness  ;  for  if  you 
only  do  what  you  say,  I  tell  you  that  I  shall  continue  to  enjoy 
in  future  what  others  counted  the  happiest  life,  and  in  which 
I  concur  with  them." 

"  Who  then,"  said  Cyrus,  "hold  this  the  happiest  life?" 

"  My  wife,"  said  he,  "  Cyrus ;  for  she  shared  alike  with 
me  all  my  goods,  luxuries,  and  delights,  while  she  was  freed 
from  the  cares  of  procuring  them,  and  from  war  and  battle. 
Thus,  you  are  now  disposed  to  treat  me,  as  I  treated  her 
whom  I  loved  best  in  the  world.  So  that  I  consider  myself 
as  owing  Apollo  some  further  offerings,  expressive  of  my 
gratitude." 

When  Cyrus  heard  this,  he  was  surprised  at  his  equanim- 
ity, and  for  the  future  took  him  along  with  himself  wherever 
he  went ;  either  thinking  that  Croesus  might  be  of  some  use 
to  him,  or  judging  this  the  safer  procedure. 

Thus  ended  the  career  of  Croesus.  It  reads  to  us  a  lesson 
of  the  vanity  of  riches,  and  the  mutability  of  the  grandeur  of 
this  world.  In  one  hour,  his  immense  wealth  passed  into  the 
hands  of  another,  and  his  grandeur  was  rudely  plucked  from 
his  brow.  Seek  not,  therefore,  reader,  after  these  bubbles ; 
for  if  they  should  fall  into  thy  possession,  they  will  burst,  if 
not  before,  at  the  touch  of  death.  Rather  let  thy  thoughts  be 
carried  backward  in  reflection  upon  thy  past  life,  and  for- 
ward to  a  better  and  a  more  enduring  world  than  this  in 
which  we  live,  and  the  fashion  of  w^hich  passeth  away,  and 
that  swiftly. 

"  'Tis  greatly  wise  to  talk  with  our  past  hours  ; 
And  ask  them  what  report  they  bore  to  heaven ; 
And  how  they  might  have  borne  more  welcome  news. 
Their  answers  form  what  men  experience  call : 
If  Wisdom's  friend,  her  best;  if  not,  worst  foe. 
O  reconcile  them  !  kind  experience  cries, 
*  There's  nothing  here,  but  what  as  nothing  weighs ; 
The  more  our  joy,  the  more  we  know  it  vain ; 
And  by  success  are  tutor'd  to  despair.' 
Nor  is  it  only  thus,  but  must  be  so ; 
Who  knows  not  this,  though  grey,  is  still  a  child. 
Loose,  then,  from  earth  the  grasp  of  fond  desire, 
Weigh  anchor,  and  some  happier  clime  explore." — Young. 


HISTORY 


or 


THE    CARTHAGINIANS, 


CONTENTS 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE 


B.  C.  PAGE. 

853  Carthage  founded 201 

813  The  port  called  Cothon  built 202 

Conquests  of  the  Carthaginians  in  Africa  (date  uncertain)....  211 
Conquests  of  the  Carthaginians  in  Spain  (date  uncertain)....  215 

508  First  treaty  between  the  Carthaginians  and  Romans 216 

503  Conquests  of  the  Carthaginians  in  Sicily,  commenced 217 

481  The  Carthaginians  make  an  alliance  with  Xerxes ,.  217 

478  The   Carthaginians   under   Hamilcar   attack  the   Greeks  m 

Sicily 217 

They  are  defeated  by  Gelon • 217 

410  The  Carthaginians  send  troops  under  Hannibal  to  aid  the  Se- 

gestans 219 

409  Himera  destroyed  by  Hannibal 220 

406  Hannibal  and  Imilco  sent  to  conquer  Sicily 221 

Agrigentum  destroyed  by  Hannibal 222 

This  war  terminated  by  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Syracusans  222 

397  Dionysius  declares  war  with  the  Carthaginians 223 

Imilco  returns  to  Sicily  with  a  large  army 224 

341  Second  treaty  between  the  Romans  and  Carthaginians 228 

The  Carthaginians  attempt  the  reduction  of  all  Sicily 228 

340  They  are  defeated  by  Timoleon,  and  obliged  to  sue  for  peace.  228 
Hanno,  citizen  of  Carthage,  forms  the  design  of  making  him- 
self master  of  his  country 230 

310  Beginning  of  the  wars  between  the  Carthaginians  and  Aga- 

thocles  in  Sicily  and  Africa ••  231 

309  Agathocles  conquered  by  Hamilcar,  and  shuts  himself  up  in 

Syracuse 233 

280  The  Carthaginians  send  the  Romans  aid  against  Pyrrhus 238 

275  Hiero  appointed  in  Sicily  to  carry  on  the  war  against  the  Car- 
thaginians   239 

264  Beginning  of  the  first  Punic  war 240 

The  Romans  besiege  the  Carthaginians  in  Agrigentum,  and 

take  the  city  after  a  siege  of  seven  months 241 

260  Sea  fight  between  the  Romans  and  Carthaginians  near  the 

coast  of  Mylae 242 

17 


198  CONTENTS  AND    CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE. 

B.  C.  PAGE 

259  Sea  fight  between  the  same  powers  near  Ecnomus,  in  Sicily...  243 
Regulus  wars  with  the  Carthaginians  in  Africa 243 

256  Xanthippus  arrives  to  aid  the  Carthaginians .\...  244 

Regulus  is  conquered,  and  taken  prisoner 245 

Sea  fight  on  the  coasts  of  Sicily 246 

251  The  Romans  besiege  the  Carthaginians  in  Lilybeum 246 

249  Adherbal  attacked  by  the  Romans  in  Drepanum 247 

247  Hamilcar,  father  of  Hannibal  attacks  the  Romans  in  Eryx...  248 

The  Romans  make  a  further  attempt  upon  Lilybeum 248 

Defeat  of  the  Carthaginians  near  the  island  iEgetes 249 

The  treaty  concluding  the  first  Punic  war 250 

The  Libyan  war 250 

238  Its  conclusion,  after  having  continued  three  years  and  four 

months 256 

The  Carthaginians  give  up  Sardinia  to  the  Romans,  and  en- 
gage to  pay  them  1200  talents 258 

237  Hamilcar  in  Spain 259 

Asdrubal  succeeds  him ••  260 

Hannibal  is  sent  into  Spain  upon  the  demand  of  Asdrubal,  his 

uncle 261 

Asdrubal's  death 261 

Hannibal  succeeds  him 261 

Siege  of  Saguntum 262 

219  Saguntum  taken - 263 

218  The  second  Punic  war  proclaimed 263 

Hannibal  marches  towards  Italy 265 

The  passage  of  the  Rhone 266 

Contest  with  the  Numidians 269 

The  passage  of  the  Alps 270 

Hannibal  enters  Italy 273 

Battle  of  the  cavalry  near  the  Ticinus 274 

217  Battle  of  the  Trebia 277 

Battle  of  Thrasymenus 280 

Hannibal  deceives  Fabius  at  the  Straits  of  Casilinura 282 

Cn.  Scipio  defeats  the  Carthaginians  in  Spain 284 

216  Battle  of  Cannse 286 

Hannibal  sends  his  brother  Mago  to  Carthage  for  succour 287 

Hannibal  retires  to  Capua - - 289 

212  Hannibal  harrassed  by  M.  Marcellus 291 

The  Romans  besiege  Capua 291 

211  Hannibal  besieges  Rome 291 

The  Romans  take  Capua 292 

Scipio  makes  himself  master  of  Spain 292 

207  Asdrubal  enters  Italy,  where  he  is  conquered  by  the  consuls 

Livius  and  Nero 294 

204  Scipio  is  made  counsul,  and  goes  to  Africa 296 

203  Hannibal  is  recalled  from  Italy 297 

Interview  of  Hannibal  and  Scipio 299 

The  Romans  gain  a  complete  victory 300 

Treaty  of  peace  between   the  Carthaginians  and   Romans, 
which  concludes  the  second  Punic  war 301 

201  Scipio  returns  to  Rome.... 302 


CONTENTS   AND   CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE.  199 

B.  C.  PAGE 

Hannibal  is  made  pretor  of  Carthage,  and  reforms  the  courts 

of  justice  and  finances 306 

193  Hannibal  retires  to  king  Antiochus,  whom  he  advises  to  carry- 
war  into  Italy 308 

Interview  of  Hannibal  and  Villius  at  Ephesus 309 

Hannibal  takes  refuge  in  the  island  of  Crete  to  avoid  the  power 

of  the  Romans 311 

Hannibal  takes  refuge  with  Prusias,  king  of  Bithynia 312 

Hannibal's  death 313 

170  The  Romans  send  commissioners  into  Africa  to  decide  the  dif- 
ference that  arose  between  the  Carthaginians  and  Masinissa  316 
155  Embassy  sent  by  the  Romans  into  Africa  to  make  new  inqui- 
ries into  the  differences  between  these  rival  powers 317 

Battle  between  the  Carthaginians  and  Masinissa 318 

149  Beginning  of  the  third  Punic  war 319 

Carthage  is  besieged  by  the  Romans 324 

Scipio  is  made  consul,  and  receives  the  command  of  the  army 

before  Carthage 325 

X46  Scipio  takes,  and  entirely  demolishes  Carthage 330 


THE 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  CARTHAGINIANS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND  THE  FORM  OF  THE  GOVERN- 
MENT OF  CARTHAGE. 

Carthage,  called  by  the  Greeks  Carchedon,  an  ancient 
citjr  and  state,  and  long  the  rival  of  Rome,  was  a  colony  of 
the  Tyrians,  and  was  probably  built  about  100  years  before 
Rome.  Authors,  however,  differ  very  much  with  regard  to 
the  era  of  the  foundation  of  Carthage.  There  appears  to 
have  been  an  older  Phenician  settlement  on  the  spot,  which, 
according  to  Appian  and  others,  was  founded  before  the  siege 
of  Troy  ;  and  hence  it  is  that  the  confusion  has  arisen  con- 
cerning the  age  of  Carthage. 

Most  ancient  writers  agree  in  following  a  tradition,  that 
Carthage  was  founded  by  Elissa,  or  Dido,  whose  husband 
being  murdered  by  his  brother-in-law,  Pygmalion,  king  of 
Tyre,  fled  with  a  numerous  body  of  citizens,  and  landed  on  a 
peninsula  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  between  Tunis  and  Utica, 
which  were  older  Phenician  colonies.  Dido  purchased,  or 
agreed  to  pay  rent  for  a  piece  of  ground,  whereon  to  build  a 
town,  which  was  called  Betzura,  or  Bosra,  that  is,  "the  cas 
tie ;"  a  name  which  the  Greeks  altered  into  Byrsa,  a  "  hide." 
The  nam.e  of  Byrsa,  and  probably  the  shape  of  the  peninsula, 
which  resembles  an  ox  hide,  gave  rise  to  the  classical  fable, 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  Libyans  were  cheated  out  of  their 
ground,  and  which  reads  thus  :  Dido  purchased  of  the  natives 
for  her  intended  settlement,  only  so  much  land  as  an  ox  hide 
would  encompass.     This  request  was  thought  too  moderate  to 


202  THE   FORM   OF    THE 

"be  denied.  But  it  was  only  a  trick  ;  for  she  cut  the  hide  into 
the  smallest  thong-s ;  and  with  them  encompassed  a  large 
tract  of  land,  on  which  she  built  a  city  called  Byrsa,  from  the 
hide.  But  this  is  ridiculous,  as  it  would  lead  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  Phenicians  and  Carthaginians  spoke  Greek,  or  that 
the  Punic  language  was  of  Greek  origin. 

As  the  town  increased,  the  inhabitants  excavated  a  port, 
which  was  called  Cothon,  and  which  became  a  great  mari- 
time and  commercial  emporium.  This  port  was  buih,  ac- 
cording to  Dionysius  and  Valleius  Paterculus,  about  sixty 
years  before  Rome,  or  813  b.  c.  The  Magara,  or  Magalia, 
which  resembled  a  large  suburb  with  fine  gardens,  probably 
owed  its  name  to  the  first  Phenician  habitations,  called  in  the 
language  of  the  country  Magar,  or  Magalia.  The  whole 
was  called  Carthage,  a  name  which  Bochart  and  others  de- 
duce from  two  oriental  words,  Charta  Hadatta,  "  the  new 
city ;"  Dr.  Hyde,  from  Chadre  Hanacha,  the  "  chamber  of 
rest,"  or  "  palace  of  repose ;"  and  Servius,  whose  opinion 
seems  the  most  correct,  from  Charta,  a  city  in  the  vicinity  of 
Tyre,  to  the  monarchy  of  which  Dido  bore  a  near  relation, 
and  from  whence  she  came.  This  very  city  is  called  by 
Cedrenus,  Chartica,  or  Chartaca,  that  is,  Charta  Aca,  or 
Charta  Ace,  the  city  of  Acco,  Aca,  or  Ace,  a  famous  maritime 
city  of  Phenicia,  near  Tyre,  in  the  portion  of  the  tribe  of 
Asher.  It  is  now  called  St.  Jean  d'Acre,  and  is  famous  for 
the  several  sieges  it  has  undergone,  as  in  the  time  of  Richard 
the  Lion-hearted,  who  took  it  after  a  long  and  vigorous  de- 
fence. It  was  again  taken  from  the  Christians  by  Bendocdar, 
the  Mameluke  sultan  of  Egypt,  being  the  last  town  possessed 
in  Palestine  by  the  knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem.  In  more 
modern  times,  if  sustained  a  siege  by  that  fierce  scourge  of 
mankind,  the  French  emperor,  who  was  there  defeated  by 
the  English. 

The  intercourse  of  the  Carthaginians  with  their  mother 
country  Tyre,  seems  to  have  been  closely  and  constantly 
maintained.  They  sent  thither,  every  year,  regularly,  a  ship 
freighted  with  presents,  as  a  quit-rent,  or  acknowledgment, 
paid  to  their  ancient  abode  ;  and  they  never  failed  to  transmit 
thither  also  the  first  fruits  of  their  revenues,  and  the  tithes  of 
the  spoils  taken  from  their  enemies,  as  offerings  to  Hercules, 
one  of  the  principal  deities  of  both  Tyre  and  Carthage,  and 
known  among  the  Hebrews  under  the  name  of  Baal.  We 
read  in  Josephus,  moreover,  that  the  Carthaginians  sent  assis- 
tance to  the  Tyrians,  when  besieged  by  the  king  of  Babylon, 


GOVERNMENT  OF  CARTHAGE.  203 

about  600  years  b.  c.  ;  and  afterwards,  when  Tyre  was  be- 
sieged and  captured  by  Alexander  the  Great,  332  b.  c,  they 
afforded  a  refuge  to,  and  entertained  hospitably,  some  of  their 
fellow-countrymen.  To  this  bond  of  union,  indeed,  there  is 
an  illusion  in  the  prophecies  of  Ezekiel.  That  prophet,  pre- 
dicting the  overthrow  of  Tyre,  in  order  to  show  how  great 
its  ruin  would  be,  says  of  the  states  around :  "  Then  all  the 
princes  of  the  sea  shall  come  down  from  their  thrones,  and 
lay  away  their  robes,  and  put  off  their  broidered  garments: 
they  shall  clothe  themselves  with  trembling ;  they  shall  sit 
upon  the  ground,  and  shall  tremble  at  every  moment,  and  be 
astonished  at  thee.  And  they  shall  take  up  a  lamentation  for 
thee,  and  say  to  thee,  How  art  thou  destroyed,  that  wast  in- 
habited of  sea-faring  men,  the  renowned  city,  which  wast 
strong  in  the  sea,  she  and  her  inhabitants,  which  cause  their 
terror  to  be  on  all  that  haunt  it!"  Ezek.  xxvi.  16,  17.  The 
princes  of  the  sea,  and  the  merchants  here  spoken  of,  refer  to 
those  of  Sidon,  Carthage,  and  other  maritime  cities,  that  traded, 
and  were  in  alliance  with  Tyre. 

Of  the  early  history  of  Carthage,  during  more  than  three 
centuries,  very  little  is  known,  except  that  it  became  a  great 
commercial  and  maritime,  and,  to  a  considerable  extent,  an 
agricultural  country. 

In  order  to  show  how  great  it  was,  and  to  make  the  subse- 
quent part  of  the  history  clear  to  the  reader,  we  shall  now 
notice 


THE  FORM  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  CARTHAGE. 

The  government  of  Carthage  was  considered  by  the  an- 
cients as  founded  upon  principles  of  consummate  wisdom. 
Aristotle,  indeed,  ranks  this  republic  in  the  number  of  those 
that  were  held  in  the  greatest  esteem,  and  which  were  deserv- 
ing to  be  copied  by  others.  He  grounds  his  opinion  on  this 
fact :  that  from  the  foundation  of  Carthage  to  his  days,  a 
period  of  five  hundred  years  and  upwards,  no  considerable 
sedition  had  disturbed  the  peace,  nor  any  tyrant  destroyed  , 
the  liberty  of  the  state.  Mixed  goverments,  indeed,  such  as  ! 
that  of  Carthage,  where  the  power  was  divided  betwixt  the 
nobles  and  the  people,  are  subject  to  two  inconveniences; 
either  of  degenerating  into  an  abuse  of  liberty  by  the  seditions 
of  the  populace,  as  frequently  happened  in  Athens,  and  in  all 
the  Grecian  republics  ;  or,  in  opposition  to  the  public  liberty 
by  the  tyranny  of  the  nobles,  as  in  Athens,  Syracuse,  Corinth, 


204  THE   FOE.M    OF    THE 

Thebes,  and  even  Rome  itself  under  Sylla  and  Cesar.  It  is, 
therefore,  no  mean  praise  of  Carthage,  to  state,  that  it  had 
found  out  the  art,  by  tlie  wisdom  of  its  laws,  and  ihe  harmony 
of  the  different  parts  of  its  government,  to  shun,  during  so 
long  a  period,  two  rocks,  that  are  so  dangerous,  and  on  which 
other  governments  have  foundered. 

Like  that  of  Sparta  and  Rome,  the  government  of  Carthage 
originally  united  three  different  authorities,  which  counter- 
poised and  mutually  assisted  each  other.  These  authorities 
were  that  of  two  supreme  magistrates,  called  Suffetes ;  that  of 
the  senate ;  and  that  of  the  people.  Afterwards,  there  were 
added  the  tribunal  of  the  Hundred,  which  had  great  in- 
fluence in  the  republic,  and  some  civil  officers,  wdio  were  en- 
dowed with  a  power  like  that  of  the  censors  of  Rome,  to  in- 
spect the  manners  of  the  citizens,  but  of  whom  little  beyond 
the  comparison  referred  to  is  known. 

Concerning  the  Suffetes,  Selden  and  Bochart  say,  that  they 
were  the  Hebrew  shophetim,  or  sofetim,  judges,  or  supreme 
magistrates.  A  late  elegant  writer  has  also  observed  :  "  It  is 
remarkable  that  the  Carthaginians,  who  were  descended  from 
the  Tyrians,  and  spoke  Hebrew,  called  their  chief  magistrate 
by  the  same  name :  but  the  Latins,  who  had  no  sh^  as  the 
Hebrews  and  Carthaginians  had,  and  as  we  and  the  Ger- 
mans have,  wrote  the  word  with  a  sharp  5,  and  adding  a 
Latin  termination,  denominated  them  Suffetes." 

If  this  etymology  be  correct,  and  there  appears  no  reason 
to  doubt  it,  there  is  great  probability  that  these  Carthaginian 
suffetes  resembled  the  old  Israelitish  judges,  wdio  ruled  that 
people  from  the  time  of  Joshua  to  the  election  of  Saul,  their 
first  monarch.  These  judges  were  styled  shophetim,  and  the 
HebreAvs  always  denominated  the  book  of  Judges  by  that 
term;  shophetim  being  the  plural  of  shophet, a  judge.  Now, 
this  very  government  flourished  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  Canaanites  and  Phenicians  ;  it  may,  therefore,  be  very 
naturally  inferred,  that  the  Carthaginians  borrow^ed  their 
suffetes  either  from  Tyre,  or  immediately  from  the  Hebrews 
themselves.  If  from  the  Tyrians,  these  latter,  probably  re- 
ceived their  knowledge  of  them  from  the  Israelites.  Such 
magistrates,  it  is  certain,  w^ere  found  in  Tyre  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  old  city  by  Nebuchadnezzar.  One  person  only 
was  in^TSted  with  the  supreme  power  amongst  the  Hebrews 
during  the  days  of  the  Judges,  as  was  also  the  practice  at 
Tyre;  it  is,  therefore,  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  same 
was  the  case  at  Carthage.     Justin,  indeed,  called  Hanno,  who 


GOVERNMENT  OF  CARTHAGE.  205 

was  a  suffete,  the  prince  of  Carthage;  Cornelius  Nepos 
designated  him  pretor ;  and  Gelhus  styled  him  dictator. 
Fcstus  has  also  observed,  that  the  sufes^  or  according  to  its 
Carthaginian  pronunciation,  sufet^  was  the  supreme  magis- 
trate of  Carthage. 

Of  the  mode  of  electing  the  suffetes,  we  are  ignorant,  but  it 
would  appear  that  their  power  was  only  annual,  and  that 
their  authority  answered  to  that  of  the  consuls  at  Rome. 
They  were  empowered  to  assemble  the  senate,  in  which  they 
presided,  proposed  subjects  for  deliberation,  and  collected  the 
votes.  They  likewise  presided  in  all  debates  on  matters  of 
importance.  "  Their  authority  was  not  confined  to  the  city ; 
sometimes  they  had  the  command  of  the  armies.  When 
their  employment  as  suffetes  expired  they  were  made  pretors, 
which  was  a  considerable  office,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  course 
of  the  narrative,  under  the  section  relating  to  Hannibal. 

The  senate  appears  to  have  been  a  numerous  body,  com- 
posed of  the  principal  citizens,  venerable  on  account  of  their 
age,  and  exalted  by  their  birth,  their  riches,  and,  above  all, 
their  merit.  The  chief  authority  was  vested  in  this  body, 
and  they  were  the  soul  of  the  public  dehberations.  Their 
number  is  not  exactly  known,  but  it  must  have  been  consi- 
derable, since  the  tribunal  of  the  Hundred,  which  the  Greek 
writers  call  Gerusia,  were  selected  from  their  body,  to  form  a 
separate  assembly.  In  the  senate,  all  afTairs  of  consequence 
were  debated,  the  letters  from  generals  read,  the  complaints 
of  provinces  heard,  ambassadors  admitted  to  audience,  and 
peace  or  war  determined,  as  the  reader  will  perceive  in  the 
ensuing  narrative. 

Aristotle  says,  when  the  sentiments  and  votes  were  unani- 
mous, the  senate  decided  supremely,  and  no  appeal  could  be 
made  ;  but  when  there  was  a  division,  and  the  senate  could 
not  be  brought  to  an  agreement,  the  affair  was  then  laid  be- 
fore the  people,  on  whom  the  decision  thereby  devolved. 
This  regulation  was  happily  adapted  to  crush  factions,  pro- 
duce harmony,  and  enforce  and  confirm  good  counsels  ;  such 
an  assembly  being  extremely  jealous  of  its  authority,  and  not 
easily  prevailed  upon  to  let "^  it  pass  into  other  hands.  Poly- 
bius  adduces  a  memorable  instance  of  this.  When,  after  the 
loss  of  the  battle  fought  in  Africa,  at  the  close  of  the  second 
Punic  war,  the  conditions  of  peace  offered  by  the  victor  were 
read  in  the  senate,  one  of  the  senators  opposed  them  with 
great  warmth  ;  but  Hannibal,  representing  that,  as  the  safety 
of  the  republic  lay  at  stake,  it  was  of  the  utmost  importance 

VOL.    II.  18 


200  *■  THE   FORM   OP   THE 

for  the  senators  to  be  unanimous  in  their  resolutions,  to  pre- 
vent such  a  debate  from  coming  before  the  public,  the  oppos- 
ing senator  yielded,  and  Hannibal  carried  his  point.  This, 
doubtless,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  power  of  the  senate,  and 
exalted  its  authority.  Polybius  observes,  in  another  place, 
that  whilst  the  senate  had  the  administration  of  affairs,  the 
state  was  governed  with  great  wisdom,  and  was  successful  in 
its  varied  enterprises. 

As  late  as  the  time  of  Aristotle,  (from  384  to  322  b.  c.)  the 
government  of  Carthage  was  carried  on  solely  by  the  senate. 
But  the  aspect  of  affairs  changed  afterwards.  The  people, 
having  become  insolent  by  their  wealth  and  conquests,  and 
forgeUing  that  these  blessings  were  the  fruits  of  the  prudent 
conduct  of  the  senate,  were  desirous  of  sharing  in  the  govern- 
ment, and  they  arrogated  to  themselves  almost  the  whole 
power.  From  that  period,  cabal  and  faction  ruled  the  state  ; 
to  which  cause,  Polybius  chiefly  ascribes  the  ruin  of  Car- 
thage. 

Concerning  the  tribunal  of  the  Hundred,  Aristotle  says : 
The  Carthaginians  had  a  body  of  104  magistrates,  similar  to 
the  Ephori  of  Sparta,  but  selected  wuth  greater  discernment 
from  among  the  most  worthy  ;  and  that  the  kings  and  the 
Gerusia  of  Carthage  resembled  the  kings  and  the  Gerusia  of 
Sparta  in  their  respective  offices.  But  there  was  this  differ- 
ence between  the  Ephori  and  the  Gerusia,  or  the  tribunal  of 
the  Hundred,  namely,  that  the  former  consisted  of  five  mem- 
bers only,  who  continued  in  office  but  a  year,  while  the  latter 
consisted  of  one  hundred  members,  and  upwards,  and  their 
office  was  perpetual.  According  to  Justin,  the  Gerusia  was 
a  select  body  chosen  from  among  the  senators,  to  watch  over 
and  investigate  the  conduct  of  the  magistrates,  and  especially 
of  the  generals  returning  home  from  foreign  command,  and 
it  was  first  established  at  the  time  when  the  house  of  Mago, 
by  its  vast  influence  and  popularity,  excited  fears  of  some  am- 
bitious designs,  about  400  b.  c.  Its  chief  design  was  to  act 
as  a  curb  to  the  authority  of  the  generals,  which,  whilst  their 
armies  were  in  the  field,  was  almost  boundless,  by  obliging 
them  to  give  an  account  of  their  actions  before  these  judges 
on  their  return  from  the  campaign.  From  the  tribunal  of  the 
Hundred,  five  were  selected,  who  possessed  a  jurisdiction  su- 
perior to  that  of  the  rest ;  but  it  is  not  known  how  long  their 
authority  lasted.  This  council  of  Five  resembled  the  coun- 
cil of  Ten  at  Venice.  When  there  was  a  vacancy  in  their 
numberj  it  could  be  filled  up  by  none  but  themselves,  and 


GOVERNMENT  OF  CARTHAGE.  207 

they  also  had  the  sole  power  of  choosing  those  who  composed 
the  council  of  the  Hundred.  Their  authority  was  very  great, 
and  for  that  reason  none  were  elected  into  this  office  but  per- 
sons endowed  with  rare  merit.  Neither  salary  nor  reward 
was  annexed  to  the  office,  the  public  welfare  being  considered 
sufficient  to  engage  honest  men  to  a  conscientious  and  faith 
ful  discharge  of  their  duty. 

In  his  account  of  the  taking  of  New  Carthage  by  Scipio, 
Polybius  distinguishes  two  orders  of  magistrates  established 
in  Old  Carthage  ;  for  he  says  that  among  the  prisoners  taken 
at  New  Carthage  were  two  magistrates  belonging  to  the  body 
or  assembly  of  old  men,  that  is,  the  council  of  the  Hundred, 
and  fifteen"^of  the  senate.  Livy  mentions  only  the  fifteen  sen- 
ators, but  in  another  place  he  mentions  the  old  men ;  and  he 
tells  us  also  that  they  formed  the  most  venerable  council  of 
the  government,  and  had  great  authority  in  the  senate. 

Establishments,  though  constituted  with  the  greatest  wis- 
dom, and  the  most  just  harmony  of  parts,  have  frequently  de- 
generated into  disorder  and  licentiousness.  Thus  it  was  with 
the  tribunal  of  the  Hundred.  These  judges,  who,  by  the 
lawful  execution  of  their  power,  were  a  terror  to  transgres- 
sors, abusing  their  authority,  became,  in  the  lapse  of  time,  so 
many  petty  tyrants.  This  is  verified  in  the  history  of  Han- 
nibal, who,  during  his  pretorship,  after  his  return  to  Africa, 
employed  all  his  influence  to  remove  this  abuse,  and  made 
the  authority  of  these  judges  only  annual,  about  two  hundred 
years  from  the  first  founding  of  the  tribunal. 

The  magistrates  of  Carthage  were  either  elected  by  the 
people,  or  proposed  by  the  senate  and  approved  by  the  peo- 
ple ;  and  Aristotle  observes  that  bribery  was  resorted  to,  and 
that  offices  were  bought  and  sold.  Aristotle  speaks  of  dinners 
given  by  various  societies,  probably  like  our  clubs,  in  which 
political  questions  were  discussed.  Livy  also  speaks  of  their 
political  circuU,  clubs,  or  cercles,  as  they  are  now  called  in 
the  French  language.  Concerning  the  choice  of  magistrates, 
Aristotle  observes,  that  the  qualities  required  were  their 
weakh,  personal  character,  merits,  and  popularity;  which 
shows  that  the  people  had  a  real  power  in  the  elections. 

This  is  all  that  is  known  concerning  the  constitution  of  the 
government  of  Carthage,  no  Carthaginian  author  having 
reached  us.  Had  Aristotle's  work  on  Constitutions  not  been 
lost,  we  should  probably  have  had  a  much  fuller  account  of 
the  Carthaginian  government  and  social  state :  we  meet  with 
observations  in  that  author's  writings,  however,  concerning 


20S  THE   FORM   OF   THE 

two  defects  in  the  government,  and  we  have  some  information 
concerning-  the  pohcy  of  the  government,  which  may  throw 
some  additional  hght  on  the  subject. 

The  first  of  these  defects  was,  the  investing  the  same  per- 
son with  different  employment.  This  was  considered  at 
Carthage  as  a  proof  of  uncommon  merit ;  but  Aristotle  speaks 
of  it  as  highly  prejudicial  to  the  public  welfare.  His  argu- 
ment runs  thus :  he  says,  A  man  possessed  but  of  one  em- 
ployment is  much  more  capable  of  acquitting  himself  well  in 
the  execution  of  it ;  because  aflairs  are  then  examined  with 
greater  co.re,  and  sooner  despatched.  Thus,  he  observes,  we 
never  see,  either  by  sea  or  land,  the  same  officer  command- 
ing two  different  bodies,  or  the  same  pilot  steering  two  ships. 
Besides,  the  welfare  of  the  state  requires  that  places  and  pre- 
ferments should  be  divided,  in  order  to  excite  emulation  and 
reward  merit ;  whereas  the  bestowing  them  on  one  man  too 
often  dazzles  him  by  so  distinguishing  a  preference,  and 
always  fills  others  with  jealousy  and  discontent. 

The  second  fault  noticed  by  this  author,  in  the  government 
of  Carthage,  was,  that  in  order  for  a  man  to  attain  the  first 
posts,  a  certain  income  was  required,  besides  merit  and  noble 
birth  ;  by  which  means,  poverty  might  exclude  persons  of  the 
most  exahed  merit.  Then,  says  he,  as  virtue  is  wholly  disre- 
garded, and  money  all-powerful,  the  admiration  and  desire  of 
bribes  seize  and  corrupt  the  whole  community  ;  and  when 
magistrates  and  judges  are  obliged  to  pay  large  sums  for  their 
employment,  they  conclude  they  have  a  right  to  reimburse 
themselves.  This  latter  charge  must  be  understood  of  the 
presents  that  were  given  in  order  to  procure  the  votes  of  the 
electors ;  a  practice,  as  Polybius  observes,  very  common  at 
Carthage,  where  no  kind  of  gain  was  deemed  a  disgrace. 

Although  the  Carthaginians  were  a  people  essentially  com- 
mercial, they  were  very  attentive  to  agriculture.  The  coun- 
try in  the  neighbourhood  of  Carthage,  and  indeed  all  that 
tract  of  land  which  formed  its  real  territory,  which  is  de- 
scribed in  the  ensuing  narrative,  was  beautifully  cultivated 
and  extremely  fertile.  When  Agathocles  landed  in  Africa, 
and  when  Regains,  half  a  century  later,  and  Scipio  Africa- 
nus,  and  Scipio  Emilianus  at  a  still  later  period,  invaded  the 
Carthaginian  territory,  their  march  lay  through  rich  fields 
covered  with  herds  of  cattle,  and  irrigated  by  numerous 
streams.  Vineyards  and  olive  grounds,  also,  appeared  on 
every  side,  and  villages  and  towns  were  spread  over  the  face 
of  the  country ;  and  as  they  drew  near  to  the  "  Great  Car- 


GOVERNMENT  OF  CARTHAGE.  209 

tliage"    the  neighbourhood  was  thickly  studded  with  the 
country  seats  of  the  wealthy  citizens. 

Concerning  the  foreign  policy  of  the  Carthaginians,  it  has 
been  observed,  that  it  was  "  grasping,  jealous,  and  often  in- 
human." This  policy  must,  however,  be  dated  from  the  pe- 
riod when  Carthage  became  a  conquering  nation,  which,  as 
we  shall  see,  was  in  the  fourth  century  of  its  existence.  Be- 
fore that  time,  like  their  Phenician  progenitors,  they  contented 
themselves  with  trading  both  inland  and  by  sea,  and  establish- 
ing factories  on  the  western  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean  for 
carrying  on  a  trade  of  exchange  with  the  natives.  At  a  very 
early  date,  they  took  possession  of  the  smaller  islands,  near 
their  own  coasts,  such  as  Melita  or  Malta,  Gozo,  Lampedosa, 
and  afterwards  of  the  Balearic  and  the  Lipari  islands. 

Their  policy,  and  their  old  enmity  towards  the  Greeks, 
which  originated  in  commercial  rivalry,  led  them  to  enter 
into  correspondence  with  the  kings  of  Persia,  especially  at 
the  time  when  Darius  and  Xerxes  invaded  Greece.  They 
likewise  joined  the  Etruscans  at  an  early  period  against  the 
Phocteans,  who  had  settled  in  Corsica ;  and  afterwards  the 
Ligurians  against  the  colony  of  Massilia,  or  Marseilles. 

In  concluding  this  chapter,  we  would  only  observe,  that 
some  people  have  drawn  a  parallel  between  Carthage  and 
England.  But  this  is  mere  fancy,  and  is,  moreover,  a  very 
superficial  view  of  both  states.  Carthage  never  had  a  com- 
pact territory,  with  an  homogeneous  population,  like  Great 
Britain.  Its  armies  were,  indeed,  almost  entirely  composed 
of  mercenaries  ;  and  there  are,  also,  numerous  other  discrep- 
ancies between  the  policy  and  the  respective  institutions  of 
the  two  countries,  which  the  attentive  reader  of  the  succeed- 
ing pages  cannot  fail  to  notice.  The  Christian  reader,  more 
especially,  will  observe,  that  he  is  reading  of  a  nation  whose 
institutions  were  founded  on  pagan  principles,  while  in  his 
own  country  they  are  professedly  established  on  the  founda- 
tion of  Christianity ;  and  while  he  observes  this,  he  will  bless 
the  Giver  of  all  good  for  his  superior  advantages,  and  exclaim 
with  the  psalmist,  "  The  lines  are  fallen  unto  me  in  pleasant 
places;  yea,  I  have  a  goodly  heritage!"  Psa.  xvi.  6. 
18* 


CHAPTER   II. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  CARTHAGE  FROM  THE  PERIOD  OF  ITS 
EARLY  CONQUESTS  TO  THE  FIRST  PUNIC  WAR. 


It  is  stated  in  the  preceding  chapter,  that  little  is  known  of 
the  early  history  of  Carthage  during  rriore  than  three  centu- 
ries, except  that  it  became  a  great  commercial,  maritime,  and 
agricultural  country.  After  this  period,  however,  about  b.  c. 
510,  it  is  brought  under  our  notice  as  an  eminent  political 
state,  ever  grasping  at  dominion.  The  ambitious  Cartha- 
ginians, ignorant  of  their  moral  duties,  and  unblessed  with 
that  lovely  spirit  of  Christianity,  which  embraces  all  mankind 
in  its  affections,  and  teaches  us  to  do  unto  others  as  we  would 
they  should  do  unto  us,  carried  war  into,  and  extended  their 
conquests  in  Europe  ;  they  invaded  Sardinia,  made  themselves 
masters  of  a  great  part  of  Sicily,  and  reduced  to  subjection 
almost  the  whole  of  Spain.  They  likewise  sent  out  powerful 
colonies  into  many  quarters  of  the  world,  and  they  enjoyed 
the  empire  of  the  seas  for  more  than  600  years  ;  they,  finally, 
formed  a  state  able,  by  her  wealth,  armies,  and  fleets,  to  dis- 
pute pre-eminence  with  the  greatest  empires  in  the  world. 

The  first  wars  waged  by  the  Carthaginians,  were  to  free 
themselves  from  the  annual  tribute  which  they  had  engaged 
to  pay  the  Africans  for  the  territory  which  had  been  ceded  to 
them.  This  conduct  does  them  no  honour,  as  the  settlement 
was  granted  them  upon  this  condition.  But  they  were  not 
successful  on  this  occasion.  The  Africans  had  justice  on 
their  side,  and  the  war  was  terminated  by  the  payment  of  the 
tribute. 

After  this,  the  Carthaginians  carried  their  arms  against  the 
Moors  and  Numidians,  and,  being  emboldened  by  the  con- 
quests they  obtained  over  those  nations,  they  would  no  longer 
pay  the  tribute  which  gave  them  so  much  uneasiness,  and 
possessed  themselves  of  a  great  part  of  the  north  of  Africa. 

About  this  time,  there  arose  a  dispute  between  Carthage 


EARLY  CONQUESTS  OF  THE  CARTHAGINIANS.      211 


and  Cyrene,  a  powerful  city  situated  on  the  Mediterranean, 
and  which  was  built  by  Battus,  about  630  years  b.  c,  on  the 
subject  of  their  respective  limits.  To  settle  this  dispute,  it  is 
said  by  some  writers,  that  it  was  agreed  on  each  side,  that 
two  young  men  should  set  out  at  the  same  instant  from  either 
city,  and  that  the  place  of  their  meeting  should  be  the  com- 
mon boundary  of  both  states.  The  Carthaginians,  (these 
were  two  brothers  named  Phileni,)  made  the  most  haste ;  and 
their  antagonists,  pretending  that  foul  play  had  been  used,  and 
that  the  two  brothers  had  set  out  before  the  time  appointed, 
refused  to  adhere  to  the  agreement,  unless  the  two  brothers, 
to  remove  all  suspicion  of  unfair  dealing,  would  consent  to 
be  buried  alive  in  the  place  where  they  had  met.  They  ac- 
quiesced in  the  proposal ;  and  the  Carthaginians  erected  on 
that  spot  two  altars  to  their  memories,  and  from  that  time  the 
place  was  called  the  Altars  of  the  Phileni,  and  served  as  the 
boundary  of  the  Carthaginian  empire,  which  extended  from 
thence  to  the  pillars  of  Hercules,  or  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar. 

This  story,  however,  bears  upon  the  face  of  it  all  the  marks 
of  improbability.  The  contending  parties  are  said  to  have 
set  out  from  their  respective  capitals,  Carthage  and  Cyrene, 
and  met  at  the  place  where  the  altars  afterward  stood.  Now 
Rennel,  in  his  Memoir  of  the  Geography  of  Herodotus,  says, 
that  these  were  situated  about  seven-ninths  of  the  road  from 
Carthage  to  Cyrene.  It  is  more  reasonable,  therefore,  to  sup- 
pose, that  they  mutually  set  out  at  the  opposite  extremes  of 
the  disputed  territory,  and  not  from  their  respective  capitals. 

Concerning  the  extent  of  the  empire  of  the  Carthaginians, 
we  are  told  by  Strabo,  that  they  possessed  300  cities  in  Africa 
before  the  commencement  of  the  third  Punic  war ;  and  that 
at  the  time  of  Hannibal's  expedition  into  Italy,  their  African 
dominions  extended  from  the  columns  of  Hercules  to  the 
Philenian  altars  on  the  boundaries  of  Cyrenaica,  a  space  of 
2,000  English  miles.  According  to  Dr.  Shaw,  who  was  a 
most  accurate  geographer,  it  appears  to  have  been  1420  geo- 
graphical, or  1636  British  miles,  thus : — 

Geograplw 

Miles. 

From  Tingi  or  Tangier  to  the  river  Mulva  or  Mulooiah        .         .      200 

Ditto,  to  the  Eastern  band  of  the  river  Chinalaph  or  Shelliff        .       220 

Ditto  to  the  river  of  Ampsaga,  or  city  of  Cirta       .         .         ;         .       165 

Ditto  to  Laribus  by  Theveste  or  Tiflesh 130 

Ditto  to  Carthage 70 

Carried  over    .    .    785 


212  THE   EAKLY   CONQUESTS 

Geograph. 
Miles. 
Brought  over    .     .    .    785 
From  Carthage  to  Kairwan,  olum  vicus  August!  .        .        .        .        75 
Ditto  to  Tacape,  or  river  of  Kabos  in  the  Lesser  Syrtis          .         .110 
Ditto  to  Tripolis,  the  modern  TripoU     .         .         .         •         •         •       135 
Ditto  to  Leptis  Magna,  or  Libda  in  the  Greater  Syrtis  .         .         .       115 
Ditto  to  the  bottom  of  the  Greater  Syrtis,  where  the  Philenian  al- 
tars are  supposed  to  have  stood 200 

Total         ;        .        .        .        .  1420 

This  was  the  whole  extent  of  African  territory  subject  to 
Carthaginian  sway.  The  real  territory  of  Carthage  appears 
to  have  extended  southwards  as  far  as  the  lake  Tritonis,  and 
westward  somewhat  beyond  the  frontiers  of  the  present  state 
of  Tunis.  There  were,  however,  in  this  tract  of  territory, 
several  old  Phenician  colonies  along  the  coast,  which  appear 
to  have  stood  in  the  relation  of  allies  to  Carthage,  each  retain- 
ing their  own  government.  We  instance  Utica,  Leptis,  Hip- 
po, and  Hadrumetum. 

The  first  foreign  conquest  attempted  by  the  Carthaginians 
seems  to  have  been  that  of  Sardinia ;  but  history  does  not  in- 
form us  exactly  either  of  the  time  when  the  Carthaginians 
entered  Sardinia,  or  of  the  manner  in  which  they  obtained 
possession  of  it.  The  conquest  was  first  attempted  by  one 
Malchus,  perhaps  Melech,  who  failed  ;  and  it  was  renewed 
by  Hasdrubal  and  Hamilcar.  Hasdrubal,  of  whom  it  is  said 
that  he  had  been  eleven  times  general,  fell  in  battle  in  Sar- 
dinia, but  his  brother  Hamilcar  succeeded  in  reducing  part 
of  the  island,  where  the  Carthaginians  built  the  colonies  of 
Caralis,  now  called  Caghari,  and  Salci.  The  conquest  made 
in  this  island,  which  is  separated  from  Corsica  only  by  a  strait 
of  about  three  leagues  in  breadth,  was  of  great  use  to  the 
Carthaginians  during  their  wars,  inasmuch  as  it  supplied 
them  with  provisions.* 

The  Carthaginians  seized  likewise  on  the  Balearic  isles, 
now  called  Majorca  and  Minorca.  Port  Mahon,  in  the  latter 
island,  was  so  called  from  Mago,  a  Carthaginian  general,  who 
first  made  use  of,  and  fortified  it.  This  harbour  is,  at  the 
present  day,  one  of  the  most  convenient  in  the  Mediterranean, 
or,  it  has  been  said,  in  the  world,  as  a  large  fleet  of  line  of 
battle  ships  may  ride  within  it,  in  seven  or  eight  fathoms  wa- 
ter, in  perfect  security  from  the  wind.     The  Spaniards  say, 

*  It  was  about  this  time,  490  b.  c,  that  Darius,  according  to  Justin, 
sent  an  embassy  to  Carthage,  requesting  assistance  against  the  Greeks, 
which  the  Carthaginians  refused  to  furnish. 


OF   THE    CARTHAGINIANS.  213 

in  allusion  to  its  delightful  situation,  that,  the  ports  of  the  Me- 
diterranean are  June,  July,  August,  and  Port  Mahon,  thereby- 
signifying  that  it  is  more  beautiful  than  any  other.  This  port 
has,  indeed,  made  the  possession  of  Minorca  an  object  of  con- 
tention among  the  maritime  nations  of  Europe  during  the 
past  century. 

From  these  isles  the  Carthaginians  enlisted  the  most  expert 
slingers  in  the  world.  They  slang  large  stones  of  above  a 
pound  weight,  and  sometimes  threw  leaden  bullets  with  such 
force,  that  they  would  pierce  the  strongest  helmets,  shields, 
and  cuirasses ;  and  they  were  so  dexterous  in  their  aim,  that 
they  scarcely  ever  missed  the  mark.  The  inhabitants  of  these 
islands  were  accustomed  from  their  infancy  to  handle  the 
sling,  for  which  purpose  their  mothers  placed  on  the  bough 
of  a  high  tree  the  piece  of  bread  designed  for  their  children's 
breakfast,  and  they  were  not  allowed  to  eat  till  they  had 
brought  it  down  with  their  slings.  From  this  practice,  these 
islands  were  called  Balleares  and  Gymnasie  by  the  Greeks, 
because  the  inhabitants  used  to  exercise  themselves  so  early 
in  slinging  stones.  Bochart  derives  the  name  of  these  islands 
from  two  Phenician  words,  Baal-jare,  or  master  of  the  art  of 
slinging,  which  strengthens  the  authority  of  Strabo,  who  says 
that  the  inhabitants  learned  their  art  from  the  Phenicians, 
who  were  once  their  masters.  This  is  rendered  very  proba- 
ble, when  we  consider,  that  both  the  Hebrews  and  Pheni- 
cians excelled  in  this  art. 

The  next  conquests  of  the  Carthaginians  were  in  Spain ; 
but  before  we  enter  on  the  relation  of  these  conquests,  it  is 
proper  to  give  our  readers  some  idea  of  Spain  in  ancient  times. 

Spain  was  divided  into  three  parts,  Boetica,  Lusitania,  Tar- 
raconensis. 

Boetica,  so  called  from  the  river  Boetis,  the  modern  Guadil- 
quiver,  was  the  southern  division  of  Spain,  and  comprehended 
the  present  kingdom  of  Grenada,  Andalusia,  part  of  New 
Castile,  and  Estremadura.  Cadiz,  called  by  the  ancients 
Gadez  and  Gadira,  is  a  town  situated  in  a  small  island  of  the 
same  name,  on  the  western  coast  of  Andalusia,  about  nine 
leagues  from  Gibraltar.  It  is  well  known,  that  Hercules, 
having  extended  his  conquests  to  this  place,  halted,  from  the 
supposition  that  he  had  reached  the  extremity  of  the  world. 
He  here  erected  two  pillars,  as  monuments  of  his  victories, 
pursuant  to  the  custom  of  that  age.  Boetica  was  the  most 
fruitful,  wealthy,  and  populous  part  of  Spain.  It  contained 
200  cities,  and  was  inhabited  by  the  Turdetani,  or  Turdali. 


214  THE   EARLY   CONQUESTS 

On  the  banks  of  the  Boetis  stood  three  large  cities ;  Castulo 
towards  the  source ;  Corduba  lower  down ;  and  Hispalis,  now 
called  Seville. 

Lusitania  was  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  ocean,  on  the 
north  by  the  river  Durius,  or  Douro,  and  on  the  south  by  the 
river  Anas,  or  Guadiana.  Between  these  two  rivers  is  the 
Tag-US.  Lusitania  was  what  is  now  called  Portugal,  with 
part  of  Old  and  New  Castile. 

Tarraconensis  comprehended  the  rest  of  Spain ;  that  is, 
the  kingdoms  of  Murcia  and  Valentia,  Catalonia,  Arragon, 
Navarre,  Biscay,  the  Asturias,  Gallicia,  the  kingdom  of  Leon, 
and  the  greatest  part  of  the  two  Castiles.  Tarraco,  now  Tar- 
ragona, a  very  considerable  city,  gave  its  name  to  this  part  of 
Spain.  Very  near  it  lay  Barcino,  or  Barcelona.  Its  name 
gives  rise  to  the  conjecture,  that  it  was  built  by  Hamilcar, 
surnamed  Barca,  father  of  the  great  Hannibal.  The  most 
renowned  nations  of  Tarraconensis  were  the  Celtiberi,  be- 
yond the  river  Iberus,  or  Ebro ;  the  Cantabri,  where  Biscay 
now  lies  ;  the  Carpetani,  whose  capital  was  Toledo  ;  the  Ore- 
tani,  etc. 

Spain,  abounding  with  mines  of  gold  and  silver,  and  peo- 
pled with  a  martial  race  of  men,  had  sufficient  to  excite  both 
the  avarice  and  ambition  of  the  Carthaginians.  They  doubt- 
less knew  that  their  Pheniciarr  ancestors,  as  Diodorus  relates, 
taking  advantage  of  the  happy  ignorance  of  the  Spaniards, 
with  regard  to  the  immense  riches  hid  in  the  bowels  of  their 
lands,  first  took  from  them  these  treasures  in  exchange  for 
commodities  of  little  value.  They  foresaw,  also,  that  if  they 
could  once  subdue  this  country,  it  would  furnish  them  abun- 
dantly with  well-disciplined  troops  for  the  conquest  of  other 
nations,  as  actually  occurred  in  after  ages.  So  wise  are  the 
men  of  this  world  in  their  generation,  so  covetous  of  wealth 
and  glory.  Notwithstanding  that  they  are  daily  taught  the 
truth  of  the  words  of  the  psalmist,  who  says,  "  Be  not  thou 
afraid  when  one  is  made  rich,  when  the  glory  of  his  house 
is  increased  ;  for  Avhen  he  dieth  he  shall  carry  nothing  away: 
his  glory  shall  not  descend  after  him,"  Psa.  xlix.  16,  17; 
they  seek  weakh  as  the  "  one  thing  needful,"  then  die,  "  like 
the  beasts  that  perish,"  "  having  no  hope,  and  without  God 
in  the  world." 

The  occasion  of  the  Carthaginians'  first  landing  in  Spain 
was  ostensibly  to  assist  the  inhabitants  of  Cadiz,  who  were 
mvaded  by  the  Spaniards,  and  who  had  originally  emigrated 
from  Tyre,  as  v/ell  as  the  people  of  Utica  and  Carthage.     The 


OF   THE   CARTHAGINIANS,  215 

success,  however,  which  the  Carthaginians  met  with  in  this 
first  expedition  made  them  desirous  of  carrying  their  con- 
quests into  Spain. 

It  is  not  exactly  known  at  what  period  they  entered  Spain, 
nor  how  far  they  extended  their  first  conquests.  It  is  proba- 
ble that  these  were  slow  in  the  beginning,  as  they  had  to  cope 
with  warlike  nations,  who  defended  their  liberties  and  homes 
with  great  resolution  and  courage.  Strabo  observes,  that  if 
the  Spaniards  had  formed  but  one  state,  and  had  assisted  one 
another,  they  could  never  have  accomplished  their  design. 
But  as  every  district  and  people  were  detached  from  their 
neighbours,  they  were  subdued  one  after  another.  This  cir- 
cumstance occasioned,  on  the  one  hand,  the  loss  of  Spain  ; 
but,  on  the  other  it  protracted  the  war,  and  made  the  conquest 
of  the  country  tenfold  more  difficult.  Hence  it  was,  that 
though  Spain  was  the  first  province  which  the  Romans  in- 
vaded on  the  continent,  it  was  the  last  they  subdued.  It  was 
not,  indeed,  entirely  subjected  to  their  power,  till  it  had  made 
a  vigorous  opposition  for  upwards  of  200  years. 

It  appears  from  accounts  given  by  Polybius  and  Livy  of 
the  wars  of  Hamilcar,  Hasdrubal,  and  Hannibal  in  Spain, 
which  will  be  mentioned  hereafter,  that  the  arms  of  the  Car- 
thaginians had  not  made  any  considerable  progress  in  that 
country  before  that  period,  and  that  the  greatest  part  of  Spain 
was  then  (b.  c.  220)  unconquered.  In  twenty  years'  time, 
however,  they  completed  the  conquest  of  almost  the  whole 
country ;  and  at  the  time  that  Hannibal  commenced  his  ex- 
pedition to  Italy,  the  lust  of  empire,  which  knows  no  bounds, 
had  carried  them  over  all  the  western  coast  of  Spain,  along 
the  ocean,  as  far  as  the  Pyrenean  hills. 

The  next  foreign  conquests  of  the  Carthaginians  were  in 
Sicily,  concerning  the  proceedings  of  which  more  is  known 
than  as  to  those  of  Sardinia  or  Spain.  We  shall  here  relate 
those  which  were  waged  from  the  reign  of  Xerxes,  (who  first 
prompted  the  Carthaginians  to  carry  their  arms  into  Sicily,) 
till  the  first  Punic  war.  This  period  includes  nearly  220 
years,  namely,  from  about  484  to  264,  b.  c.  At  the  com- 
mencement of  these  wars,  Syracuse,  the  most  considerable  as 
well  as  most  powerful  city  of  Sicily,  had  invested  Gelon, 
Hiero,  and  Thrasybulus,  three  brothers  who  succeeded  one 
another,  with  the  sovereign  power.  After  their  deaths,  a 
democracy,  or  popular  government,  was  established  in  that 
city,  and  subsisted  above  sixty  years.  From  this  time,  the 
two  Dionysiuses,  Timoleon,  and  Agathocles,  bore  the  sway 


216  THE   EAP.LY   CONQUESTS 

in  Syi'acuse.  Pyrrhus  was  afterwards  invited  into  Sicily, 
but  he  kept  possession  of  it  only  a  few  years.  Such  was  the 
government  of  Sicily  during  the  wars  which  we  are  about  to 
narrate,  and  which  will  throw  great  light  on  the  subject  of 
the  power  of  the  Carthaginians,  at  the  time  they  engaged  in 
hostilities  with  the  Romans. 

Sicily  is  the  largest  and  most  considerable  island  in  the 
Mediterranean.  It  is  of  triangular  form,  and  for  that  reason 
was  called  Trinacria  and  Triquetra.  The  eastern  side  which 
faces  the  Ionian,  or  Grecian  Sea,  extends  from  Cape  Pachy- 
num,  or  Pessaro,  to  Pelorum  or  II  Faro.  The  most  cele- 
brated cities  on  this  coast  are  Syracuse,  Taurominium,  and 
Messana,  now  called  Saragoza,  Taomina,  and  Messina.  The 
northern  coast,  which  looks  towards  Italy,  reaches  from  Cape 
Pelorum  to  Cape  Lilybeum.  The  most  noted  cities  on  this 
coast  are  Mylae,  Himera,  Panormus,  Eryx,  Motya,  and 
Lilybeum,  the  Modern  Marsala.  The  southern  coast,  which 
lies  opposite  to  Africa,  extends  from  Cape  Lilybeum  to  Pachy- 
num.  The  most  remarkable  cities  on  this  coast  are  Selinus, 
Agrigentum,  now  called  Girgenti,  Gela,  and  Camarina.  The 
island  is  separated  from  Italy  by  a  strait  which  is  not  more 
than  a  mile  and  a  half  over,  and  called  the  Faro  or  strait  of 
Messina,  from  its  contiguity  to  that  city.  Strabo  says,  that 
the  passage  from  Lilybeum  to  Africa  is  1500  furlongs,  that  is 
about  seventy-five  leagues ;  but  Rennel  has  shown  that  it  is 
not  above  one  third  of  that  distance. 

The  period  at  v/hich  the  Carthaginians  first  carried  their 
arms  into  Sicily  is  not  definitely  known,  but  it  is  supposed  to 
have  been  about  503  years  b.  c.  All  we  are  certain  of  is, 
that  they  were  already  possessed  of  some  part  of  it  at  the  time 
that  they  entered  into  a  treaty  with  the  Romans,  508  years 
B.  c.  ;  the  same  year  that  the  kings  were  expelled,  and  con- 
suls appointed  in  their  places,  namely,  twenty-eight  years  be- 
fore the  invasion  of  Greece  by  Xerxes.  This  treaty,  which 
is  the  first  mentioned  as  made  between  these  two  nations, 
speaks  of  Africa  and  Sardinia  as  possessed  by  the  Cartha- 
ginians ;  whereas  the  conventions  with  regard  to  Sicily  relate 
only  to  those  ports  of  the  island  which  were  subject  to  them. 
By  this  treaty  it  is  expressly  stipulated,  that  neither  the  Ro- 
mans nor  their  allies  shall  sail  beyond  the  Fair  Promontory, 
which  was  near  Carthage ;  and  that  such  merchants  as  shall 
resort  to  this  city  for  traffic,  shall  pay  only  certain  duties, 
which  are  settled  in  it. 

It  appears  by  this  treaty,  that  the  Carthaginians  were  care- 


OF   THE    CARTHAGINIANS.  217 

ful  to  exclude  the  Romans  from  all  countries  subject  to  them 
as  well  as  from  the  knowledge  of  what  was  transacting  in 
them ;  as  though  they  had,  even  at  that  time,  taken  umbrage 
at  the  rising  power  of  the  Romans,  and  already  harboured 
in  their  breasts  the  sinful  emotions  of  that  jealousy  and  dis- 
trust which  were  one  day  to  burst  forth  in  long  and  cruel 
wars,  and  a  mutual  hatred  and  animosity,  which  nothing 
could  eradicate  but  the  ruin  of  one  of  the  contending  powers. 

Some  years  after  the  conclusion  of  this  first  treaty,  (about 
481  B.  c.,)  the  Carthaginians  made  an  alliance  with  Xerxes, 
the  king  of  Persia.  This  prince,  who  aimed  at  the  total  ex- 
tirpation of  the  Greeks,  whom  he  conceived  to  be  his  enemies, 
thought  it  would  be  impossible  to  succeed  in  his  enterprise, 
without  the  assistance  of  Carthage,  whose  power  was  for- 
midable even  at  that  time.  The  Carthaginians,  who  ever 
kept  in  view  their  design  of  seizing  upon  the  remainder  of 
Sicily,  greedily  embraced  the  favourable  opportunity  which 
now  presented  itself  for  its  complete  reduction.  A  treaty  was 
therefore  concluded,  wherein  it  was  agreed,  that  the  Cartha- 
ginians were  to  invade,  with  all  their  forces,  those  Greeks 
who  were  settled  in  Sicily  and  Italy,  while  Xerxes  should 
march  in  person  against  Greece  itself 

The  preparations  for  this  war  lasted  three  years,  after  which 
time,  about  478  years  b.  c,  Hamilcar,  the  most  experienced 
captain  of  his  age,  sailed  with  a  formidable  army  towards  the 
scene  of  action.  He  landed  at  Palermo,  and,  after  refreshing 
his  troops  marched  against  Himera,  w^hich  lay  near  Palermo, 
and  laid  siege  to  it.  Therou,  who  commanded  in  it,  seeing 
himself  very  much  straitened,  sent  to  Gelon,  who  had  posses- 
sed himself  of  Syracuse.  Gelon  flew  to  his  relief  with  a  con- 
siderable force,  and  his  arrival  infused  new  courage  into  the 
besieged,  and  from  that  time  they  made  a  vigorous  defence. 

Gelon  was  an  able  warrior  and  excelled  in  stratagems.  A 
courier  was  brought  to  him,  who  had  been  despatched  from 
Selinus,  a  city  of  Sicily,  with  a  letter  for  Hamilcar,  to  inform 
him  of  the  day  when  he  might  expect  the  cavalry  which  he 
had  demanded  of  them.  Gelon  drew  out  an  equal  number 
of  his  own  troops,  and  sent  them  from  his  camp  about  the 
time  agreed  on.  In  this  critical  conjuncture,  Gelon  attacked 
the  Carthaginians  with  all  his  forces.  They  at  first  made  a 
gallant  resistance,  but,  when  the  news  of  their  general's  death 
was  brought  them,  and  they  saw  all  their  fleet  on  fire,  their 
courage  failed,  and  they  fled.  A  dreadful  slaughter  ensued ; 
great  numbers  were  slain,  and  those  who  escaped  having  re- 

VOL.    II.  19 


218  THE    EARLY    CONQUESTS 

tired  to  a  place  where  they  were  in  want  of  every  thing,  were 
forced  to  surrender  at  discretion. 

The  Carthaginians,  in  great  reverses  of  fortune,  always 
lost  their  courage,  and  sunk  into  the  opposite  extreme.  When 
therefore,  the  news  was  brought  to  Carthage  of  the  entire  de- 
feat of  the  army,  consternation,  grief,  and  despair,  threw  the 
whole  city  into  a  confused  alarm.  It  was  imagined  that  the 
enemy  was  already  at  the  gates,  and  they  immediately  sent  a 
deputation  to  Gelon,  by  which  they  desired  peace  upon  any 
terms.  He  heard  their  envoys  with  great  humanity.  The 
victory  he  had  gained,  so  far  from  making  him  haughty  and 
untractable,  had  only  increased  his  modesty  and  clemency. 
He  therefore  granted  them  a  peace  upon  these  conditions — 
That  they  should  pay  2000  talents  towards  the  expenses  of 
the  war  ;  that  they  should  build  two  temples,  where  the  treaty 
of  the  peace  should  be  deposited,  and  exposed  at  all  times  to 
pubhc  view  ;  and  that  they  should  abolish  the  cruel  practice 
of  sacrificing  human  victims  to  Melcarth.*  The  Cartha- 
ginians did  not  think  this  peace  purchased  at  too  high  a  rate 
since  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  their  affairs,  and  unex- 
pectedly granted.  Overjoyed,  indeed,  at  the  event,  they  made 
a  present  to  Demarata,  Gelon's  wife,  who  had  favoured  its 
conclusion,  of  a  crown  of  gold  of  the  value  of  100  talents. 
Gisgo,  the  son  of  Hamilcar,  pursuant  to  the  unjust  custom 
among  the  Carthaginians,  of  ascribing  to  the  general  the  ill 
success  of  the  war,  and  making  him  bear  the  blame  of  it,  was 
punished  for  his  father's  misfortune,  and  sent  into  banishment. 
He  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  Sicily. 

Gelon,  on  his  return  to  Syracuse,  convened  the  people,  and 
invited  all  the  citizens  to  appear  under  arms.  He  himself 
entered  the  assembly  unarmed  and  without  his  guard,  and 
there  gave  an  account  of  the  whole  conduct  of  his  life.  His 
speech  met  with  no  other  interruption  than  the  public  testi- 
monies which  were  given  him  of  gratitude  and  admiration. 
So  far  from  being  treated  as  a  tyrant,  and  the  oppressor  of  his 
country,  he  was  hailed  as  its  benefactor  and  deliverer  ;  all 
with  a  unanimous  voice  proclaimed  him  king,  and  the  crown 
w^as  bestowed  after  his  death  on  his  two  brothers. 

♦  Montesquieu  says  of  this  treaty:  "The  noblest  treaty  of  peace  ever 
mentioned  in  history  is,  in  my  opinion,  that  which  Gelon,  king  of  Syra- 
cuse, made  with  the  Carthaginians.  He  insisted  upon  their  abolishing 
the  custom  of  sacrificing  their  children.  After  having  defeated  300,000 
Carthaginians,  (according  to  Diodorus,  whose  statement  is  probably  an 
exaggeration,)  he  required  a  condition  that  was  advantageous  only  to 
themselves,  or  rather,  he  stipulated  in  favour  of  human  nature." 


OP    THE    CARTHAGINIANS.  219 

After  this  there  was  a  period  of  peace  of  about  seventy- 
years'  duration,  during  which  time  Carthage  seems  to  have 
reached  the  highest  point  of  its  commercial  prosperity.  The 
Carthaginians  now  sent  out,  indeed  according  to  Phny,  two 
fleets  to  explore  the  western  coasts  of  Africa  and  Europe. 
The  first  expedition  was  commanded  by  Hanno,  a  suffete, 
who  took  out  with  him  30,000  colonists  of  the  rural  popula- 
tion whom  he  distributed  in  settlements  on  the  western  coast 
of  Africa.  It  is  stated  in  the  Periplus,  or  voyage  of  Hanno, 
that  the  first  city  he  founded  was  Thumiaterion,  near  the  pil- 
lars of  Hercules,  probably  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Marmora. 
The  others  were  founded  a  little  to  the  south  of  the  promon- 
tory Soloeis,  which  Rennel  considers  to  be  the  same  as  Cape 
Cantin,  and  they  were  named  Karikon-teichos,  Gutte,  Akra, 
Melitta,  Arambus,  and  Kerne.  The  other  expedition  under 
Hamilcar  was  sent  round  the  coast  of  Lusitania,  and  north- 
wards as  far  as  the  CEstrymnon  Cape,  which  some  suppose 
to  be  Cape  Finisterre.  It  would  seem  that  they  discovered 
not  only  the  Fortunate  or  Canary  isles,  but  Madeira  also.  A 
large  island,  with  rivers  and  forests  is  mentioned,  the  position 
of  which  they  kept  concealed  as  a  state  secret,  intending  it  as  a 
place  of  refuge,  in  case  of  some  great  national  castastrophe. 
This  island  some  suppose  to  have  been  a  portion  of  America. 

At  the  end  of  seventy  years,  about  410  b.  c,  a  second  ex- 
pedition was  sent  into  Sicily.  It  had  its  origin  in  the  follow- 
ing circumstance.  After  the  memorable  defeat  of  the  Athen- 
ians before  Syracuse,  where  Nicias  perished  with  his  whole 
fleet,  the  people  of  Egeste,  who  had  declared  in  favour  of  the 
Athenians  against  the  Syracusans,  fearing  their  resentment, 
and  being  attacked  by  the  inhabitants  of  Selinus,  implored 
the  aid  of  the  Carthaginians,  and  put  themselves  and  city  un- 
der their  protection.  At  Carthage,  the  people  debated  some 
time  what  course  it  would  be  proper  for  them  to  take,  the 
affair  being  attended  with  great  difficulties.  On  the  one  hand 
the  Carthaginians  were  very  desirous  to  possess  themselves 
of  a  city  which  would  further  their  ambitious  views  ;  on  the 
other,  they  dreaded  the  power  and  forces  of  Syracuse,  which 
had  so  lately  cut  to  pieces  a  numerous  army  of  the  Athenians, 
and  had  become  by  this  victory  more  formidable  than  ever. 
At  length,  the  lust  of  empire  prevailed,  and  the  Segestans 
were  promised  aid. 

The  conduct  of  this  war  was  committed  to  Hannibal,  who 
at  that  time  was  invested  with  the  highest  dignity  of  the  state, 
being  one  of  the  suffetes.     He  was  grandson  to  Hamilcar, 


220  THE   EAULY   CONQUESTS 

who  had  heen  defeated  by  Gelon,  and  killed  hefore  Himeraj 
and  son  to  Gisgo,  who  had  been  condemned  to  exile.  Han- 
nibal left  Carthage  animated  with  an  ardent  desire  of  reveng- 
ing his  family  and  country,  and  of  wiping  away  the  disgrace 
of  the  last  defeat.  He  had  a  very  great  army  as  well  as  licet 
under  his  command;  He  landed  at  a  place  called  the  Well 
of  Lilybeum,  which  gave  its  name  to  a  city  afterwards  built 
on  the  same  spot.  His  first  enterprise  was  the  siege  of  Seli- 
nus. — The  attack  and  defence  were  equally  vigorous,  but  the 
city,  after  making  a  long  resistance,  was  taken  by  storm,  and 
the  plunder  of  it  abandoned  to  the  soldiers.  The  victor  exer- 
cised the  most  wanton  cruelties,  without  showing  the  least  re- 
gard to  either  age  or  sex.  He,  however,  permitted  such  in- 
habitants as  had  fled,  to  continue  in  the  city  after  it  had  been 
dismantled;  and  to  till  the  lands  on  condition  of  their  paying 
a  tribute  to  Carthage. 

Himera,  which  was  a  city  in  the  interior  of  Sicily,  was 
next  besieged  and  taken,  and  after  being  more  cruelly  treated 
than  Selinus,  was  entirely  razed,  244  years  after  its  founda- 
tion, and  409  b.  c,  Hannibal  caused  3000  prisoners  to  un- 
dergo every  kind  of  ignominious  punishment,  and  at  last 
murdered  them  all  on  the  very  spot  where  his  grandfather  had 
been  slain  by  Gelon's  cavalry ;  to  appease  and  satisfy  his 
manes  by  the  blood  of  these  unhappy  victims. 

This  circumstance  conveys  an  idea  that  the  people  of  Car- 
thage held  the  notion  that  the  manes,  or  souls  of  the  departed 
asked  revenge  upon  its  earthly  foes,  and  this  would  naturally 
lead  to  such  a  crime  as  that  perpetrated  by  Hannibal.  When 
we  read  such  lamentable  facts  in  history  as  these,  how  ought 
we  to  express  our  gratitude  to  God,  the  source  of  all  good, 
for  the  right  notions  imparted  to  us  in  the  Bible,  concerning 
the  soul  of  man,  and  for  that  knowledge  which  keeps  us  from 
imbruing  our  hands  in  the  blood  of  our  fellow-man,  which 
makes  us  wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus,  and  which  shows  us  how  just  will  be  their  condemna- 
tion, who,  knowing  these  things,  act  as  did  the  ancient  heath- 
en, and  even  with  more  brutality. 

Those  inhabitants  who  survived  this  calamity  established 
themselves  at  Thermae,  near  the  site  of  the  most  ancient  town, 
and  enriched  their  new  abode  with  such  works  of  art  as  they 
could  collect  from  the  wreck. 

These  expeditions  being  ended,  Hannibal  returned  to  Car- 
thage, on  which  occasion  the  whole  city  came  out  to  meet 
him,  and  received  him  amidst  the  most  joyful  acclamations. 


OF   THE   CARTHAGINIANS.  221 

They  were  so  rejoiced,  indeed,  at  these  successes,  that  they 
now  determined  to  carry  into  effect  a  design  which  they  had 
ever  entertained,  of  making  themselves  masters  of  the  whole 
of  Sicily.  Accordingly,  three  years  after,  they  appointed  Han- 
nibal their  general  a  second  time ;  and  on  his  pleading  his 
great  age,  and  refusing  the  command  of  the  war,  they  gave 
him  for  a  lieutenant,  Imilco,  son  of  Hanno,  of  the  same  1am- 
ily.  The  preparations  for  this  war  were  proportioned  to 
the  great  design  which  the  Carthaginians  had  formed.  The 
number  of  their  forces,  according  to  Timaeus,  amounted  to 
above  six  score  thousand  ;  and,  according  to  Ephorus,  to  300,- 
000  men,  which  shows  the  uncertainty  of  these  enumerations 
in  ancient  history.  The  enemy,  on  their  side,  were  prepared 
to  give  them  a  warm  reception.  The  Syracusans  had  sent  to 
all  their  allies,  in  order  to  levy  forces  among  them  ;  and  to  all 
the  cities  of  Sicily,  to  exhort  them  to  exert  themselves  vigorous- 
ly in  defence  of  their  liberties. 

Agrigentum  expected  to  feel  the  first  fury  of  the  enemy. 
This  city  was  (as  its  sepulchral  remains  testify  at  the  present 
day)  very  rich;  and  it  was  also  strongly  fortified.  It  was 
situated,  as  was  Selinus,  on  that  coast  of  Sicily  which 
faces  Africa.  Accordingly,  Hannibal  opened  the  cam- 
paign with  the  siege  of  this  city.  Imagining  that  it  was  im- 
pregnable, except  on  one  side,  he  directed  his  whole  force  to 
that  quarter.  He  threw  up  banks  and  terraces  as  high  as  the 
walls,  and  made  use  on  this  occasion  of  the  rubbish  and  frag- 
ments of  the  tombs  standing  round  the  city,  which  he  had 
demolished  for  that  purpose.  Soon  after,  the  plague  infected 
the  army,  and  swept  away  a  great  number  of  the  soldiers,  and 
the  general  himself.  The  Carthaginians,  as  superstitious  as 
they  were  cruel,  interpreted  this  disaster  as  a  punishment  in- 
flicted by  the  gods,  for  the  injuries  done  to  the  dead,  whose 
ghosts,  it  is  said,  many  fancied  they  had  seen  in  the  night. 
No  more  tombs  were  therefore  demolished  ;  prayers  were 
ordered  to  be  made,  according  to  the  practice  of  Carthage ;  a 
child  Avas  sacrificed  to  Saturn,  known  in  Scripture  by  the 
name  of  Moloch  :  and  many  victims  were  thrown  into  the  sea, 
in  honour  of  Neptune,  the  fabulous  god  of  the  ocean.  The 
horrid  worship  of  both  these  idol  gods  formed  a  part  of  the 
Carthaginian  mythology. 

The  besieged,  who  at  first  gained  several  advantages,  were 

at  last  so  pressed  by  famine  that,  all  hopes  of  relief  seeming 

desperate,  they  resolved  to  abandon  the  city.     Accordingly, 

the  bulk  of  the  citizens  passed  the  enemy's  lines  in  a  winter's 

19* 


222  THE    EARLY   CONQUESTS 

night,  and  escaped  to  Gela,  where  they  received  all  the  com- 
forts they  could  expect  in  the  deplorable  condition  to  which 
they  were  reduced.     This  event  took  place  406  years  b.  c. 

In  the  meantime,  Imilco  or  Hamilcar  entered  the  city,  and 
murdered  all  therein.  The  plunder  was  exceedingly  great, 
and  such  as  might  be  expected  from  one  of  the  most  opulent 
cities  of  Sicily.  A  multitude  of  paintings,  vases,  and  statues 
of  every  kind  was  found ;  the  citizens  having  an  exquisite 
taste  for  the  polite  arts.  Among  other  curiosities  was  the 
famous  bull  of  Phalaris,*  which  was  sent  to  Carthage. 

The  siege  of  Agrigentum  lasted  eight  months.  Imilco 
made  his  forces  take  up  their  winter  quarters  in  it,  to  give 
them  the  necessary  refreshment :  he  left  the  city,  after  laying 
it  entirely  in  ruins,  in  the  beginning  of  the  spring.  After- 
wards, he  besieged  Gela,  and  took  it,  notwithstanding  the 
succours  which  were  brought  by  Dionysius,  the  tyrant  who 
had  seized  upon  the  government  of  Syracuse.  Imilco  ended 
the  war  by  a  treaty  with  Dionysius  ;  the  conditions  of  which 
were,  that  the  Carthaginians,  besides  their  ancient  acquisitions 
in  Sicily,  should  still  possess  the  country  of  the  Sicanians, 
Selinus,  Agrigentum,  and  Himera,  as  likewise  that  of  Gela 
and  Camarina,  with  leave  for  the  inhabitants  to  reside  in 
their  respective  dismantled  cities,  on  condition  of  their  paying 
a  tribute  to  Carthage ;  that  the  Leontines,  the  Messenians, 
and  all  the  Sicilians,  should  retain  their  own  laws,  and  pre- 
serve their  liberty  and  independence  ;  lastly,  that  the  Syra- 
cusans  should  still  continue  subject  to  Dionysius.  After  this 
treaty  was  completed,  Imilco  returned  to  Carthage. 

Dionysius,  in  concluding  the  late  peace  with  the  Cartha- 
ginians, had  no  other  view  than  to  gain  time  to  establish  his 
new  authority,  and  make  the  necessary  preparations  for  the 
war  he  meditated  against  them.  Sensible  of  their  formidable 
power,  he  used  his  utmost  endeavours  to  prepare  to  invade 
their  possessions  with  success,  and  his  design  was  seconded 
by  the  zeal  of  his  subjects.     The  fame  of  Dionysius,  the  de- 

*  This  bull  was  made  by  Perillus,  an  ingenious  artist  of  Athens,  for 
Phalaris,  tyrant  of  Agrigentum.  It  was  so  fabricated  as  to  put  criminals 
to  death  by  burning  them  alive,  and  to  make  their  cries  sound  in  their 
agonies  like  the  roaring  of  a  bull.  When  Perillus  gave  it  to  Phalaris,  the 
tyrant  made  the  first  experiment  upon  the  donor ;  he  caused  him  to  be 
put  to  death  by  lighting  a  slow  fire  under  the  belly  of  the  bull.  After 
this,  many  of  the  subjects  of  Phalaris  perished  by  the  same  means-  but 
the  tyrant's  cruelties  did  not  remain  long  unrevenged ;  for  in  the  tenth 
year  of  his  reign,  his  people  revolted,  and  put  him  to  death  in  the  same 
manner. 


OF   THE    CARTHAGINIANS.  223 

sire  he  had  to  distinguish  himself,  the  hope  of  gain,  and  the 
prospect  of  the  rewards  which  he  promised  those  who  should 
show  the  greatest  talent,  invited,  from  all  quarters  into  Sicily, 
the  most  able  artists  and  workmen  at  that  time  in  the  world. 
Syracuse  became  a  great  workshop  ;  in  every  part  men  were 
seen  making  instruments  of  destruction,  and  preparing  all 
things  necessary  for  building  ships  and  fitting  out  fleets. 

When  all  things  were  ready,  and  a  great  number  of  forces 
had  been  collected  from  different  countries,  he  called  the 
Syracusans  together,  laid  his  design  before  them,  and  repre- 
sented to  them  that  the  Carthaginians  were  the  professed 
enemies  of  Greece  ;  that  they  had  in  view  the  invasion  of  all 
Sicily ;  the  subjection  of  all  the  Grecian  cities ;  and  that,  in 
case  their  project  was  not  checked,  the  Syracusans  themselves 
would  soon  be  attacked :  that  the  reasons  why  the  Cartha- 
ginians did  not  attempt  any  enterprise,  was  owing  entirely  to 
the  plague  among  them,  which,  he  observed,  was  a  favour- 
able opportunity,  of  which  the  Syracusans  ought  to  take 
advantage. 

Though  the  tyranny  and  the  tyrant  were  equally  odious  to 
Syracuse,  yet  the  hatred  the  people  bore  to  the  Carthaginians 
prevailed  over  all  other  considerations  ;  and  every  one,  guided 
more  by  the  view  of  an  interested  policy,  than  by  the  dictates 
of  justice,  received  the  speech  with  applause.  Upon  this, 
without  the  least  complaint  made,  or  any  declaration  of  war, 
Dionysius  gave  up  to  the  fury  of  the  populace  the  persons 
and  possessions  of  the  Carthaginians,  great  numbers  of  whom 
resided  at  that  time  at  Syracuse,  and  traded  on  the  faith  of 
treaties.  The  common  people  ran  to  their  houses,  plundered 
their  effects,  and  pretended  they  were  sufficiently  authorized 
to  exercise  every  ignominy  and  inflict  every  kind  of  punish- 
ment on  them,  for  the  cruelties  they  had  exercised  against 
the  natives  of  the  country.  This  example  of  perfidy  and  in- 
humanity was  followed  throughout  the  whole  island  of  Sicily, 
and  this  became  the  signal  of  the  war  declared  against  them. 
Dionysius  having  thus  begun  to  do  himself  justice,  (for  such 
it  was  termed,)  sent  deputies  to  Carthage,  demanding  for  all 
the  Sicilian  cities  their  liberties ;  declaring  that  otherwise,  all 
the  Carthaginians  found  in  them  should  be  treated  as  enenaies. 
This  news'' spread  a  general  alarm  in  Carthage,  especially 
when  they  reflected  on  the  condition  to  which  they  were  re- 
duced. They  saw  themselves  in  danger  of  being  taken  in 
the  net  which  they  had  spread  for  others,  and  were  in  fear 
for  the  consequences.     This  event  may  be  dated  397  b.  c. 


^4  THE   EARLY   CONQUESTS 

Dionysius  opened  the  campaign  with  the  siege  of  Motya, 
which  was  the  magazine  of  the  Carthaginians  in  Sicily,  and 
he  pushed  on  the  siege  with  so  much  vigour,  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  Imilco,  the  Carthaginian  leader,  to  relieve  it.  He 
brought  forward  his  engines,  battered  the  place  with  his  bat- 
tering-rams, advanced  towers  to  the  wall,  six  stories  high, 
upon  wheels,  and  of  an  equal  height  with  their  houses  ;  and 
from  these  he  greatly  annoyed  the  besieged  with  his  catapukte, 
engines  then  recently  invented,  which  hurled  with  great  vio- 
lence volleys  of  arrows  and  stones  against  the  enemy.  By 
these  means,  the  city,  after  a  long  and  vigorous  defence,  was 
taken,  and  all  the  inhabitants  put  to  the  sword  ;  those  excepted 
who  took  refuge  in  the  temples.  The  plunder  of  it  was 
abandoned  to  the  soldiers ;  and  Dionysius,  leaving  a  strong 
garrison  and  a  governor  in  it,  returned  to  Syracuse. 

The  following  year,  Imilco,  being  appointed  one  of  the 
suiTetes,  returned  to  Sicily  with  a  far  greater  army  than  be- 
fore. He  landed  at  Palermo,  recovered  Moyta  by  force,  and 
took  several  other  cities.  Animated  by  these  successes,  he 
advanced  towards  Syracuse,  designing  to  besiege  it,  marching 
his  infantry  by  land,  whilst  his  fleet,  under  the  command  of 
Mago,  sailed  along  the  coast. 

The  arrival  of  Imilco  threw  the  Syracusans  into  great  con- 
sternation. About  200  ships  laden  with  the  spoils  of  the 
enemy,  and  advancing  in  good  order,  entered  the  great  har- 
bour in  trnmiph,  being  followed  by  500  barks.  At  the 
same  time,  the  land  army,  consisting,  according  to  some  au- 
thors, of  300,000  foot,  and  to  others,  which  is  the  more  pro- 
bable account,  to  30,000  foot  and  3000  horse,  was  seen 
marching  forward  on  the  other  side  of  the  city.  Imilco 
pitched  his  tent  in  the  very  temple  of  Jupiter ;  and  the  rest  of 
the  army  encamped  at  twelve  furlongs,  or  about  a  mile  and  a 
half,  from  the  city.  Marching  up  to  it,  Imilco  offered  battle 
to  the  inhabitants,  who  declined  accepting  the  challenge,  and 
he  retired,  not  doubting  but  he  should  soon  be  master  of  the 
city.  For  thirty  days  together  he  laid  waste  the  neighbour- 
hood about  Syracuse,  and  ruined  the  whole  country.  He 
possessed  himself  of  the  suburb  of  Achradina,  and  plundered 
the  temple  of  Ceres,  the  goddess  of  corn,  and  Proserpine  her 
daughter,  whom  the  ancient  heathens  supposed  to  preside 
over  the  death  of  mankind.  To  fortify  his  camp,  Imilco  de- 
molished the  very  tombs  where  the  dead  reposed,  including 
that  of  Gelon  and  his  wife  Demarata. 

But  these  successes  were  transitory.     All  the  splendour  of 


OP   THE    CARTHAGINIANS.  225 

this  anticipated  triumph  vanished  in  a  moment,  and  taught 
mankind,  says  the  ancient  historian,  that  the  proudest  mortal, 
blasted  sooner  or  later  by  a  superior  power,  shall  be  forced  to 
confess  his  own  weakness.  The  Almighty,  by  a  fearful  dis- 
pensation said,  Thus  far  shalt  thou  go,  and  no  farther.  Whilst 
imilco,  now  master  of  almost  all  the  cities  of  Sicily,  expected 
to  crown  his  conquests  by  the  reduction  of  Syracuse,  a  conta- 
gious distemper  seized  his  army,  and  laid  his  glory  in  the 
dust.  It  was  now  the  middle  of  summer,  and  the  heat  that 
year  Avas  excessive.  The  infection  began  among  the  Africans, 
mukitudes  of  whom  died  without  any  possibility  of  their  lives 
being  preserved.  At  first,  care  was  taken  to  inter  the  de- 
parted ;  but  the  number  increasing  daily,  and  the  infection 
spreading  rapidly,  the  dead  lay  unburied,  and  the  sick  un- 
assisted. The  plague  was  attended  with  very  uncommon 
symptoms,  such  as  violent  dysenteries,  raging  fevers,  burning 
entrails,  acute  pains  in  every  part  of  the  body:  the  infected 
were  even  seized  with  madness,  so  that  they  would  fall  upon 
any  that  came  in  their  way,  and  tear  them  to  pieces :  into 
such  dreadful  maladies  has  sin  plunged  the  human  race. 
Great  reason  has  man,  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  to  deplore  the 
fall  of  Adam.  We,  as  Christians,  however,  may  look  forw^ard 
to  a  day,  when  the  groans  of  creation  shall  cease — when  the 
Lord  .Tesus  Christ  shall  restore  all  things  to  their  pristine 
state  of  hohness  and  happiness — when  there  shall  be  "  new 
heavens  a'nd  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness," 
2  Pet.  iii.  13,  and  a  perfect  immunity  from  sorrow. 

Dionysius  did  not  suffer  so  favourable  an  opportunity  for 
attacking  the  enemy  to  escape  ;  and  being  more  than  half 
conquered  by  the  plague,  they  made  but  a  feeble  resistance ; 
their  ships  were  almost  all  taken  or  burned.  The  inhabitants 
of  Syracuse,  in  general,  old  men,  women,  and  children,  came 
pouring  out  of  the  city  to  behold  an  event,  which  to  them  ap- 
peared miraculous.  With  hands  lifted  up  to  heaven,  in  their 
ignorance  of  the  one  true  God,  they  thanked  the  tutelar  gods 
of  their  city,  for  having  avenged  the  sanctity  of  their  temples 
and  tombs,  which  had  been  so  wantonly  violated.  Night 
coming  on,  both  parties  retired,  when  Imilco,  taking  the  op- 
portunity of  this  short  suspension  of  hostilities,  sent  to 
Dionysius,  requesting  leave  to  carry  back  with  him  the  small 
remains  of  his  shattered  army,  with  an  offer  of  31^0  talents, 
about  61,800/.,  which  was  all  the  specie  he  had  then  left. 
This  permission  could  only  be  obtained  for  the  Carthagi- 


226  THE   EARLY   CONQUESTS 

nians,  with  whom  Imilco  stole  away  in  the  night,  leaving  the 
rest  to  the  mercy  of  the  conqueror. 

Such  was  the  condition  in  which  Imilco,  who  a  few  days 
before  had  been  so  proud  and  haughty,  retired  from  Syracuse. 
Bitterly  bewailing  his  own  fate,  and  still  more  that  of  his 
country,  he  accused  the  gods  as  the  sole  authors  of  his  mis- 
fortunes. "  The  enemy,"  continued  he,  "  may  indeed  rejoice 
at  our  misery,  but  have  no  reason  to  glory  in  it.  We  return 
victorious  over  the  Syracusans,  and  are  defeated  by  the  plague 
alone."  His  greatest  cause  of  grief,  and  that  which  most  dis- 
tressed him,  was  his  having  survived  so  many  of  his  soldiers 
who  had  died  in  arms.  "  But,"  added  he,  "  the  sequel  shall 
make  it  appear  whether  it  is  through  fear  of  death,  or  from 
the  desire  of  leading  back  to  their  native  country  the  misera- 
ble remains  of  my  fellow  citizens,  that  I  have  survived  the 
loss  of  so  many  brave  comrades."  Accordingly,  on  his  arri- 
val at  Carthage,  which  he  found  overwhelmed  with  grief  and 
despair,  he  entered  his  house,  shut  his  doors  against  the  citi- 
zens, and  even  his  own  children,  and  then,  in  compliance 
with  a  practice  to  which  the  heathens  falsely  gave  the  name 
of  courage,  he  put  an  end  to  his  life. 

But  the  calamities  of  Carthage  did  not  stop  here.  The 
Africans,  who  had  ever  borne  an  implacable  hatred  to  its  in- 
habitants, were  now  exasperated  to  fury  because  their  coun- 
trymen had  been  left  behind,  and  exposed  to  the  wrath  of  the 
Syracusans.  They  therefore  sounded  the  alarm,  took  up 
arms,  and  after  seizing  upon  Tunis,  marched  onward  to  Car- 
thage, to  the  number  of  more  than  200,000  men.  This  new 
incident  was  considered  by  them  as  the  effect  of  the  wrath  of 
the  gods,  v/hich  pursued  the  guilty  even  to  Carthage,  and 
they  gave  themselves  up  for  lost.  As  its  inhabitants,  espe- 
cially in  all  public  calamities,  carried  their  superstition  to  the 
greatest  excess,  their  first  care  was  to  appease  the  supposed 
offended  gods.  Ceres  and  Proserpine  were  deities  who  till 
that  time  had  never  been  heard  of  in  Africa.  But  now,  to 
atone  for  the  outrage  which  had  been  offered  to  them  in  plun- 
dering their  temples,  magnificent  statues  were  erected  to  their 
honour  ;  priests  were  selected  from  among  the  most  distin- 
guished families  of  the  city  ;  sacrifices  and  victims,  according 
to  the  Greek  ritual  (if  the  term  may  be  used)  were  offered  up 
to  them  ;  in  a  word,  nothing  was  omitted  which,  as  they 
fondly  supposed,  would  appease  the  angry  goddesses.  After 
this,  the  defence  of  the  city  was  the  next  object  of  their  care. 
Happily  for  them,  however,  this  numerous  army  had  no 


OF    THE    CARTHAGINIANS.  227 

leader,  but  was  like  a  body  uninformed  with  a  soul.  They 
had  no  provisions,  nor  military  engines  ;  no  discipline  nor 
subordination  was  seen  among  them,  every  rnan  setting  him- 
self up  for  a  general,  or  claiming  superiority  over  the  rest. 
Divisions  therefore  arose  ;  and  the  famine  increasing  daily, 
they  gradually  withdrew  to  their  homes,  and  thus  Carthage 
was  delivered  from  alarm. 

The  Carthaginians  were  not  discouraged  by  their  late  dis- 
aster, but  continued  their  attacks  on  Sicily.  Mago,  their 
general,  and  one  of  the  suffetes,  lost  a  great  battle,  in  which 
he  was  slain.  The  Carthaginian  chiefs  demanded  a  peace, 
which  was  granted  on  condition  of  their  evacuating  all  Sicily, 
and  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  war.  They  pretended  to 
accept  the  terms ;  but  representing  that  it  was  not  in  their 
power  to  dehver  up  the  cities,  without  first  obtaining  an  order 
from  their  republic,  they  obtained  so  long  a  truce,  as  gave 
them  time  sufficient  for  sending  to  Carthage.  They  took  ad- 
vantage of  this  interval  to  raise  and  discipline  new  troops, 
over  which  Mago,  son  of  him  who  had  been  lately  slain,  was 
appointed  general.  He  was  very  young,  but  of  great  abili- 
ties and  reputation.  As  soon  as  he  arrived  in  Sicily,  at  the 
expiration  of  the  truce,  he  gave  Dionysius  battle,  in  which 
Leptines,  brother  to  Dionysius,  and  one  of  his  generals,  was 
killed,  and  upwards  of  14,000  Syracusans  left  dead  on  the 
field.  By  this  victory,  the  Carthaginians  obtained  an  honour- 
able peace,  which  left  them  in  the  possession  of  all  they  origi- 
nally had  in  Sicily,  with  the  addition  of  strongholds  ;  they 
gained,  also,  a  thousand  talents,  about  206,000/.,  which  were 
paid  to  them  towards  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  war. 

Carthage  had,  soon  after,  another  calamity  to  struggle 
with.  The  plague  spreading,  panic,  terrors,  and  violent  fits 
of  frenzy,  seized  the  unhappy  suflferers  ;  who,  sallying  out 
sword  in  hand,  killed  or  wounded  all  who  came  in  their  way ; 
as  though  an  overruling  Providence  had  ordained  that  they 
should  perish  by  that  sword  which  they  had  so  often  unjustly- 
turned  against  their  fellow-men.  The  Africans  and  Sardi- 
nians would  very  willingly  have  taken  this  opportunity  to 
shake  off  a  yoke  which  was  so  hateful  to  them  ;  but  they  had 
not  sufficient  power  to  accomplish  their  desires.  Dionysms, 
with  the  same  views,  formed  at  this  time  an  enterprise  m 
Sicily,  which  was  equally  unsuccessful.  He  died  some  time 
after,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  of  the  same  name. 

We  have  already  taken  notice  of  the  first  treaty  which  the 
Carthaginians  concluded  with  the  Romans.     There  was  an- 


228  THE   EARLY   CONQUESTS 

Other,  which,  according  to  Orosius,  was  concluded  in  the 
402nd  year  of  the  foundation  of  Rome,  and  consequently  b.  c. 
341,  and  ^bout  the  time  of  which  we  are  now  speaking. 
This  second  treaty  was  similar  to  the  first,  except  that  the  in- 
habitants of  Tyre  and  Utica  were  comprehended  in  it,  and 
joined  with  the  Carthaginians. 

After  the  death  of  the  elder  Dionysius,  Syracuse  was  in- 
volved in  great  troubles.  Dionysius  the  younger,  who  had 
been,  expelled,  restored  himself  by  force  of  arms,  347  years 
B.  c,  and  exercised  great  cruelties  there.  One  part  of  the 
citizens  implored  the  aid  of  Icetes,  tyrant  of  the  Leontines^ 
and  by  descent  a  Syracusan.  This  seemed  a  favourable  op- 
portunity for  the  Carthaginians  to  seize  upon  all  Sicily,  and 
accordingly  they  sent  a  large  fleet  thither.  In  this  extremity^ 
such  of  "the  Syracusans  as  loved  their  country  best,  had  re- 
course to  the  Corinthians,  who  had  often  assisted  them  in 
their  dangers  ;  and  were,  besides,  of  all  the  Grecian  nations, 
the  most  professed  enemies  of  tyranny,  and  the  most  avowed 
and  generous  asserters  of  liberty.  This  state  accordingly 
sent  Timoleon,  a  man  of  great  merit,  who  had  signalized  his 
zeal  for  the  public  welfare  by  delivering  his  country  from 
tyranny,  at  the  expense  of  his  own  family.  He  set  sail,  344 
years  b,  c,  with  only  ten  ships,  and  arriving  at  Rhegium, 
eluded  by  a  stratagem  the  vigilance  of  the  Carthaginians  ; 
Avho,  having  been  informed  by  Icetes  of  his  voyage,  sought 
to  intercept  him  in  his  passage  to  Sicily. 

Timoleon  had  scarcely  above  1000  soldiers  under  his  com- 
mand ;  and  yet,  with  this  handful  of  men,  he  marched  to  the 
relief  of  Syracuse.  His  small  army  increased  as  he  advanced. 
The  Syracusans  were  now  in  despair  :  they  saw  the  Cartha- 
ginians masters  of  the  port,  Icetes  of  the  city,  and  Dionysius 
of  the  capital  Happily,  on  Timoleon's  arrival,  Dionysius, 
having  no  refuge  left,  put  the  citadel  into  his  hands,  with  all 
his  forces,  arms,  and  ammunition,  and  escaped,  by  his  assist- 
ance, to  Corinth,  343  years  b.  c.  Timoleon  had,  by  his  emis- 
saries, artfully  represented  to  the  foreign  soldiers,  who  formed 
the  principal  strength  of  Mago's  army,  and  the  greatest  part  of 
whom  were  Greeks,  that  it  was  astonishing  to  see  Greeks 
using  their  endeavours  to  make  barbarians  masters  of  Sicily, 
from  whence  they,  in  a  little  time,  would  pass  over  into 
Greece.  Could  they  imagine,  he  asked,  that  the  Cartha- 
ginians were  come  so  far,  Avith  no  other  view^  than  to  estab- 
lish Icetes  tyrant  of  Syracuse  ?  Such  discourses  being  spread 
among  Mago's  soldiers,  gave  him  great  uneasiness  ;  and,  as 


OF   THE    CARTHAGINIANS.  229 

he  wanted  a  pretence  to  retire,  he  was  glad  to  have  it  believed 
that  his  forces  were  going  to  betray  him.  Accordingly,  upon 
this  he  sailed  with  his  fleet  out  of  the  harbour,  and  steered  for 
Carthage.  Icetes,  after  his  departure,  could  not  hold  out  long 
against^  the  Corinthians  ;  so  that  they  now  obtained  possession 
of  the  city. 

Mago,  on  his  arrival  at  Carthage,  was  impeached  ;  but  he 
prevented  the  execution  of  the  sentence  passed  upon  him  by 
a  voluntary  death.     After  this,  new  forces  were  levied  at  Car- 
thage, and  a  greater  and  more  powerful  fleet  was  sent  to 
Sicily.     It  consisted  of  200  ships  of  war,  besides  1000  trans- 
ports ;  and  the  army  amounted  to  upwards  of  70,000  men. 
They  landed  at  Lilybeum,  under  the  command  of  Hamilcar 
and  Hannibal,  who  resolved  to  attack  the  Corinthians  first. 
But  Timoleon  did  not  wait  for  the  attack  ;  he  marched  ibr- 
ward  to  meet  them.     Such,  however,  was  the  consternation 
of  Syracuse,  that  of  all  the  forces  which  were  in  that  city,  only 
3000  Syracusans  and  4000  mercenaries  followed  him  ;  and 
even  of^hese  latter,  1000  deserted  upon  the  march,  through 
fear  of  the  danger  they  were  going  to  encounter.     But  Timo- 
leon was  not  discouraged  ;  exhorting  fhe  remainder  of   his 
forces  to  exert  themselves  for  the  safety  and  liberties  of  their 
allies,  he  led  them  against  the  enemy,  whose  rendezvous  was 
on  the  banks  of  the  little  river  Crimisus.     It  appeared,  at  the 
first  reflection,  madness  to  attack  an  army  so  numerous  as 
that  of  the  enemy,  with  only  4000  or  5000  foot,  and   1000 
horse  ;  but  Timoleon,  who  knew  that  bravery  conducted  by 
prudence  is  superior  to  numbers,  rehed  on  the  courage  of 
his  soldiers,  who,  knowing  the  justice  of  their  cause,  were 
resolved  to  die  rather  than  yield,  and  demanded  with  ardour 
to  be  led  against  the  enemy.     A  battle  was  therefore  fought, 
and  the   Carthaginians    were   routed   with   great  slaughter. 
Their  camp,  also,  was  taken,  and  with  it  immense  riches,  and 
a  great  number  of  prisoners.     Timoleon,  at  the  same  time 
thai  he  despatched  the  news  of  this  victory  to  Corinth,  sent 
thither  the  finest  arms  found  among  the  plunder.     He  was 
desirous  of  having  his  city  applauded  and  admired  by  all 
men,  when  they  should  see  that  Corinth  alone,  among  all  the 
Grecian  cities,  adorned  its  temples,  not  with  the   spoils  of 
Greece,  and  offerings  dyed  in  the  blood  of  its  citizens,  but 
with  those  of  barbarians,  which,  by  inscriptions,  displayed  at 
once  the  courage  and  gratitude  of  those  who  had  won  them. 
The  inscriptions  imported,  "  That  the  Corinthians,  and  Timo- 
leon their  general,  after  having  freed  the  Greeks  settled  m 
VOL.  n.  20 


230  THE    EARLY   CONQUESTS 

Sicily  from  the  Carthaginian  yoke,  had  hung  up  these  arms 
in  their  temples,  as  an  eternal  acknowledgement  of  the  favour 
and  goodness  of  the  gods."* 

After  this,  Timoleon,  leaving  the  mercenary  troops  in  the 
Carthaginians'  territories  to  destroy  them,  returned  to  Syra- 
cuse. On  his  arrival  there,  he  banished  the  soldiers  who  had 
deserted  him,  taking  no  other  revenge  than  commanding 
them  to  leave  Syracuse  before  sunset.  This  victory  gained 
by  the  Corinthians  took  place  340  years  b.  c,  and  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  capture  of  a  great  many  cities,  which  obliged  the 
Carthaginians  again  to  sue  for  peace. 

In  proportion  as  the  appearance  of  success  made  the  Car- 
thaginians exert  themselves  to  raise  armies  by  land  and  sea, 
and  prosperity  led  them  to  make  an  insolent  and  cruel  use  of 
victory  ;  so  their  courage  would  fail  them,  in  adversity,  their 
hopes  of  resources  vanish,  and  they  would  humbly  ask  quar- 
ter of  the  most  inconsiderable  enemy,  and  without  sense  of 
shame  accept  the  most  mortifying  conditions.  Those  now 
imposed  were — That  their  territories  in  Sicily  should  be  hm- 
ited  to  the  west  extremity  of  the  island,  the  river  Halycus,  be- 
tween Selinus  and  Lilybeum,  forming  its  eastern  boundary  j 
that  they  should  give  all  the  natives  liberty  to  retire  to  Syra- 
cuse with  their  families  and  effects  ;  and  that  they  should 
neither  continue  in  alliance,  nor  hold  any  correspondence 
with  the  tyrants  of  that  city. 

About  this  time,  a  memorable  event,  as  related  by  Justin, 
occurred  at  Carthage.  Hanno,  one  of  its  most  powerful  citi- 
zens, formed  a  design  of  seizing  upon  the  republic,  by  de- 
stroying the  whole  senate.  He  chose  for  the  execution  of 
this  atrocious  deed,  the  day  on  which  his  daughter  was  to  be 
married,  on  which  occasion  he  designed  to  invite  the  senators 
to  an  entertainment,  and  there  poison  them  all.     The  con- 

*  This  was  in  strict  accordance  with  the  practice  of  the  ancients.  It 
was  their  custom  to  dedicate  to  the  gods  some  conspicuous  portion  of  the 
enemies'  spoils  ;  a  relic  of  which  is  preserved  in  the  European  custom  of 
depositincr  in  churches  standards  captured  in  war.  The  armour  was,  in- 
deed, frequently  a  votive  oflering  to  the  idol  in  whose  temple  it  was 
placed  ;  that  is,  when  a  vow  had  been  made  to  a  particular  god,  that  in 
the  event  of  a  victory  the  armour  of  one  or  more  distinguished  foes  should 
decorate  his  temple.  Virgil  alludes  to  such  decorations  of  temples  in  his 
description  of  that  in  which  Latinus  received  the  ambassadors  of -£neas: — 

"  Around  the  posts  hung  helmets,  darts,  and  spears, 
And  captive  chariots,  axes,  shields,  and  bars. 
And  broken  beaks  of  ships,  the  trophies  of  their  wars." 

JEneid. — Dryden. 


OF   THE   CARTHAGINIANS.  231 

spiracy  was  discovered,  but  Hanno  had  such  influence,  that 
the  government  dared  not  punish  him  for  his  crime.  The 
only  step  they  could  take  v^^as,  to  curtail  the  magnificence  and 
the  expenses  of  weddings  by  an  order  from  the  senate. 
Hanno,  seeing  his  stratagem  defeated,  resolved  to  employ 
open  force  ;  and  for  that  purpose  he  armed  all  his  slaves :  he 
was,  however,  again  discovered  ;  and,  to  escape  punishment, 
he  retired  with  a  number  of  armed  slaves  to  a  strongly  forti- 
fied castle,  and  there  endeavoured,  but  without  success,  to  en- 
gage in  his  rebellion  the  Africans,  and  the  King  of  Maurita- 
nia. He  was  at  length  taken  and  carried  to  Carthage,  where 
he,  and  his  children  and  relations,  though  innocent  of  his 
crimes,  were  put  to  death,  without  regard,  on  the  part  of  the 
Carthaginians,  to  justice,  moderation,  or  gratitude. 

War  again  broke  out  between  Carthage  and  Syracuse, 
about  310  years  b.  c,  when  Agathocles  was  tyrant  of  the  lat- 
ter city.  This  Agathocles  was  a  Sicilian  of  obscure  birth  and 
mean  fortune  ;  some  say  that  he  was  the  son  of  a  potter.  Sup- 
ported at  first  by  the  forces  of  the  Carthaginians,  he  had  in- 
vaded the  sovereignty  of  Syracuse,  and  established  himself 
there  as  a  tyrant.  In  the  infancy  of  his  power,  the  Cartha- 
ginians kept  him  within  bounds ;  and  Hamilcar,  their  chief, 
forced  him  to  agree  to  a  treaty  which  restored  tranquillity  to 
Sicily.  But  he  soon  infringed  the  articles  of  it,  and  declared 
war  against  the  Carthaginians  themselves,  who,  under  the 
conduct  of  Hamilcar,  obtained  a  signal  victory  over  him,  (b.  c. 
309,)  near  the  city  and  river  of  Himera,  and  forced  him  to 
shut  himself  up  in  Syracuse.  The  Carthaginians  pursued 
him  thither,  and  laid  siege  to  that  important  city,  the  capture 
of  which  would  have  given  them  possession  of  all  Sicily. 

Agathocles,  whose  forces  were  far  inferior  to  theirs,  and 
who,  moreover,  saw  himself  forsaken  by  his  allies,  from  their 
detestation  of  his  cruehies  meditated  a  design,  at  once  of  so 
daring,  and,  to  all  appearance,  of  so  impracticable  a  nature, 
that  it  appears  almost  incredible.  This  design  was  no  less 
than  to  make  Africa  the  seat  of  war,  and  to  besiege  Carthage, 
at  a  time  when  he  could  neither  defend  himself  in  Sicily,  nor 
sustain  the  siege  of  Syracuse.  His  profound  secrecy  in  the 
execution  is  scarcely  less  wonderful  than  the  design  itself 
He  communicated  his  thoughts  to  no  one,  but  contented  him- 
self with  declaring,  that  he  had  found  out  an  infalhble  way 
to  free  the  Syracusans  from  danger  ;  that  they  had  only  to  en- 
dure patiently,  for  a  short  time,  the  inconveniences  of  a  siege  ; 
and  that  those  who  could  not  confide  in  this  assurance,  might 


232  THE   EARLY   CONQUESTS 

freely  depart  the  city.  Only  1600  persons  quitted  it.  He 
left  his  brother  Antander  there,  with  forces  and  provisions 
sufficient  for  him  to  make  a  vigorous  and  long  defence.  He 
set  at  liberty  all  slaves  who  were  of  age  to  bear  arms,  and 
after  obliging  them  to  take  an  oath,  joined  them  to  his  forces. 
He  carried  with  him  only  fifty  talents  (about  1 1,250Z.)  to  sup- 
ply his  present  wants,  well  assured  that  he  should  find  in  the 
enemy's  country  whatever  was  necessary  for  his  subsistence. 
He  therefore  set  sail  with  two  of  his  sons,  Archagathus  and 
Heraclides,  without  informing  any  one  whither  he  intended 
to  direct  his  course.  The  Carthaginians,  surprised  at  so 
unexpected  a  departure  endeavoured  to  prevent  it:  but  he 
eluded  their  pursuit,  and  made  for  the  ocean. 

Agathocles  did  not  unfold  his  design  till  he  had  landed  in 
Africa.  There,  assembling  his  troops,  he  told  them  the  mo- 
tives which  had  prompted  him  to  this  expedition.  He  repre- 
sented, that  the  only  way  to  free  their  country,  was  to  wage 
war  in  the  territories  of  their  enemies ;  that  he  had  led  them, 
who  were  inured  to  war,  and  of  intrepid  dispositions,  against 
enemies  who  were  enervated  by  ease  and  luxury  :  that  the  na- 
tives of  the  country,  oppressed  with  a  yoke  of  servitude,  equal- 
ly cruel  and  ignominious,  would  join  them  on  hearing  of  their 
arrival ;  that  the  boldness  of  their  attempt  would  of  itself  dis- 
courage the  Carthaginians:  in  short,  that  no  enterprise  could 
be  more  advantageous  or  honourable  than  this,  since  the 
whole  wealth  of  Carthage  would  become  the  prey  of  the  vic- 
tors, whose  courage  would  be  praised  and  admired  by  all  pos- 
terity. Pleased  with  his  speech,  the  soldiers  fancied  them- 
selves already  masters  of  Carthage,  and  they  received  it  with 
the  warmest  acclamations.  One  circumstance  alone  gave 
them  uneasiness,  and  that  was  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  which 
occurred  as  they  were  setting  sail.  In  these  ages,  even  the 
most  civiHzed  nations  understood  very  little  of  the  extraordi- 
nary phenomena  of  nature,  and  used  to  draw  from  them,  by 
their  soothsayers,  arbitrary  and  superstitious  conjectures, 
v;hich  frequently  would  suspend  or  hasten  the  most  important 
enterprises.  Agathocles,  however,  revived  the  drooping  cour- 
age of  his  soldiers,  by  assuring  them  that  these  echpses  always 
foretold  some  instant  change ;  that,  therefore,  good  fortune 
was  taking  its  leave  of  Carthage,  and  coming  over  to  them. 

Finding  his  army  in  the  disposition  he  wished,  Agathocles 
executed  a  second  enterprise,  more  daring  than  the  carrying 
them  into  Africa  :  this  was,  the  burning  every  ship  in  his  fleet. 
Many  reasons  determined  him  to  commit  this  action.     He 


OF   THE   CAETHAGINIANS.  233 

had  not  one  good  harbour  in  Africa,  where  his  ships  could 
remain  in  safety ;  and,  as  the  Carthaginians  were  masters  of 
the  sea,  they  would  have  possessed  themselves  of  his  fleet, 
which  was  incapable  of  making  any  resistance.  He  was  de- 
sirous, also,  of  placing  his  soldiers  under  a  necessity  of  con- 
quering, by  leaving  them  no  other  refuge  than  victory.  Much 
courage  was  necessary  to  adopt  such  a  resolution.  He  had 
already  prepared  his  officers,  who  were  devoted  to  his  service, 
and  received  every  impression  that  he  gave  them.  He  then 
came  suddenly  into  the  assembly,  with  a  crown  upon  his  head, 
dressed  in  a  magnificent  habit,  and  with  the  air  of  a  man  who 
was  going  to  perform  some  religious  ceremony,  he  thus  ad- 
dressed them  : — "  When  we  left  Syracuse,  and  were  warmly 
pursued  by  the  enemy,  in  this  fatal  necessity  I  addressed  my- 
self to  Ceres  and  Proserpine,  the  tutelar  divinities  of  Sicily, 
and  promised,  that  if  they  would  free  us  from  this  imminent 
danger,  I  would  burn  all  our  ships  in  their  honour,  at  our 
first  landing  here.  Aid  me,  therefore,  O  soldiers,  to  discharge 
my  vow  ;  for  the  goddesses  can  easily  make  us  amends  for 
this  sacrifice."  At  the  same  time,  taking  a  flambeau  in  his 
hand,  he  hastily  led  the  way  on  board  his  own  ship,  and  set 
it  on  fire.  All  the  officers  did  the  like,  and  were  cheerfully 
followed  by  the  soldiers.  The  trumpets  sounded  from  every 
quarter,  and  the  whole  army  echoed  with  joyful  shouts  and 
acclamations.  The  fleet  was  soon  consumed.  But  the  sol- 
diers had  not  been  allowed  time  to  reflect  on  the  action ;  they 
had  been  hurried  on  by  a  blind  and  impetuous  ardour,  and 
when  they  recovered  their  reason,  and  surveyed  in  their  minds 
the  vast  extent  of  ocean  which  separated  them  from  their  own 
country,  and  saw  themselves  in .  that  of  the  enemy,  without 
resources  or  means  of  escape,  a  melancholy  silence  succeeded 
the  transports  of  joy  and  acclamations. 

Agathocles,  however,  left  them  no  time  for  reflection.  He 
inarched  his  army  towards  a  place  called  the  Great  City, 
which  was  part  of  the  domain  of  Carthage.  The  country 
through  which  they  proceeded  afforded  the  most  delicious 
and  agreeable  prospect  in  the  world.  On  either  side  were 
meadows  watered  by  beautiful  streams,  and  covered  with 
flocks  of  all  kinds  of  cattle  ;  country  seats  buih  with  extraor- 
dinary magnificence :  avenues  planted  with  olive  and  all  sorts 
of  fruit  trees  ;  and  gardens  of  vast  extent,  kept  with  an  elegance 
which  delighted  the  eye.  This  prospect  reanimated  the  sol- 
diers. They  marched,  full  of  courage,  to  the  Great  City, 
which  they  took  sword  in  hand,  and  enriched  themselves  with 

20* 


234  THE   EAULY   CONQUESTS 

the  plunder,  which  was  entirely  abandoned  to  them.  Tunis 
made  as  little  resistance  ;  and  this  city  was  not  far  from  Carthage. 

The  Carthaginians  were  in  great  alarm  when  it  was 
known  that  the  enemy  was  in  the  country,  advancing  by  hasty 
marches  ;  for  they  concluded  that  their  army  before  Syracuse 
had  been  defeated,  and  their  fleet  lost.  The  people  ran  in  dis- 
order to  the  great  square,  whilst  the  senate  assembled  in  haste, 
and  deliberated  on  the  best  means  of  preserving  the  city. 
They  had  no  army  in  readiness,  and  their  danger  did  not  per- 
mit them  to  wait  the  arrival  of  those  forces  which  might  be 
raised  in  the  country,  and  among  the  allies.  It  was,  therefore, 
resolved  to  arm  the  citizens ;  and  the  number  of  the  forces 
thus  levied  amounted  to  40,000  foot,  1000  horse,  and  2000 
armed  chariots.  Hanno  and  Bomilcar,  though  divided  betwixt 
themselves  by  family  quarrels,  were,  however,  joined  in 
the  command  of  these  troops.  They  marched  immediately  to 
meet  the  enemy,  and,  on  meeting  them,  drew  up  their  forces 
in  order  of  battle.  Agathocles  had,  at  most,  but  13,000  or 
14,000  soldiers,  and  many  of  them  lacked  arms.  The  signal 
w^as  given,  and  a  fearful  conflict  ensued.  Hanno,  with  his 
sacred  cohort,  the  flower  of  the  Carthaginian  forces,  long  sus- 
tained the  fury  of  the  Greeks,  and  sometimes  disordered  their 
ranks,  but,  overwhelmed  at  length  with  a  shower  of  stones, 
and  covered  with  wounds,  he  fell  dead  upon  the  field.  Bo- 
milcar might  have  changed  the  face  of  things,  but  he  had  pri- 
vate and  personal  reasons  why  he  should  not  obtain  a  victory 
for  his  country ;  and,  therefore,  he  perfidiously  retired,  leav- 
ing the  palm  of  victory  to  Agathocles.  After  pursuing  the 
enemy  some  time,  Agathocles  returned  and  plundered  the 
Carthaginian  camp,  where  he  found  many  thousand  mana- 
cles, with  which  the  Carthaginians  had  furnished  themselves, 
in  the  firm  persuasion  of  taking  many  prisoners.  The  result 
of  this  victory  was,  the  capture  of  several  strongholds,  and 
the  defection  of  many  of  the  natives  of  the  country,  who  joined 
the  victor. 

This  Avas  the  first  deadly  thrust  at  the  power  of  Carthage, 
whose  weak  point  being  thus  discovered,  the  example  was 
afterwards  followed  by  the  Romans.  This  is  observable  in 
a  speech  which  Scipio  made  before  the  Roman  senate.  In 
reply  to  Fabius,  w^ho  ascribed  his  design  of  making  Africa 
the  seat  of  war  to  temerity,  he  instanced  this  example  of  Aga- 
thocles in  favour  of  his  enterprise,  and  to  show,  that  frequently 
there  is  no  other  way  of  escaping  from  an  inveterate  enemy, 
than  by  carrying  war  into  his  own  country ;  and  that  men 


OF    THE   CARTHAGINIANS.  235 

are  sometimes  more  courageous,  when  acting-  upon  the  offen- 
sive, than  when  they  stand  upon  the  defensive. 

While  the  Carthaginians  were  thus  attacked  hy  their  ene- 
mies, (b.  c.  331,)  ambassadors  arrived  from  Tyre,  who  came 
to  implore  their  succour  against  Alexander  the  Great,  who 
was  upon  the  point  of  taking  their  city,  which  he  had  long 
besieged.  The  extremity  to  which  the  Tyrians  were  reduced, 
touched  the  Carthaginians  as  sensibly  as  their  own  danger. 
Though  they  w^ere  unable  to  relieve,  they  at  least  thought  it 
their  duty  to  comfort  them  ;  and  for  this  purpose  they  deputed 
thirty  of  their  principal  citizens  to  express  their  grief  that  they 
could  not,  by  reason  of  the  state  of  their  own  affairs,  spare 
them  any  troops.  The  Tyrians,  though  disappointed  of  the 
only  hope  they  had  left,  did  not,  however,  despond :  they  com- 
mitted their  wives,  children,  and  the  aged  to  the  care  of  these 
deputies ;  and  thus,  being  delivered  from  all  inquietude  with 
reference  to  persons  who  were  dearer  to  them  than  any  thing 
in  the  world,  they  thought  only  of  making  a  resolute  defence, 
prepared  for  the  worst  that  might  happen.  Carthage  received 
this  company  with  tenderness,  and  rendered  them  all  the  ser- 
vices which  they  could  have  expected  from  the  most  affec- 
tionate and  tender  parents.  The  rest  of  the  Tyrians,  it  is  said, 
when  they  saw  no  hope  of  escaping  the  besiegers,  embarked 
all  their  property  on  board  the  ships  in  their  harbour,  and 
fled  thither  also,  so  that  on  taking  the  city,  the  conqueror 
found  nothing  worthy  of  his  labour ;  thus  literally  fulfilling 
the  prediction  of  the  prophet,  which  says,  "  Yet  had  he  no 
wao-es,  nor  his  army,  for  Tyrus,  for  the  service  that  he  had 
served  against  it,"  Ezek.  xxix.  18. 

At  the  same  time  Carthage  was  desirous  of  extricating  it- 
self from  the  difficulties  with  which  it  was  surrounded.  The 
present  unhappy  state  of  the  republic  was  considered  as  the 
effect  of  the  wrath  of  the  gods ;  and  it  was  acknowledged  to 
be  justly  deserved,  particularly  with  regard  to  two  deities 
towards  whom  the  Carthaginians  had  been,  as  they  considered, 
remiss  in  the  discharge  of  certain  duties  prescribed  by  their 
religion,  and  which  had  once  been  minutely  observed.  It 
was  a  custom,  coeval  with  the  city  itself,  for  Carthage  to  send 
annually  to  Tyre  the  tenth  of  all  the  revenues  of  the  republic 
as  an  offering  to  Hercules,  the  patron  and  protector  of  both 
cities.  The  domain,  and  consequently  the  revenues  of  Car- 
thage, having  increased  considerably,  the  portion,  on  the  con- 
trary, of  the  god,  had  been  lessened,  and  they  were  far  from 
remitting  the  tenth.     They  were  seized  with  a  scruple  on 


236  THE    EARLY   CONQUESTS 

this  point ;  they  made  an  open  and  pubhc  confession  of  their 
gailt,  and  to  expiate  it,  they  sent  to  Tyre  a  great  number  of 
presents,  and  small  golden  shrines  of  their  false  gods. 

Another  offence,  which  to  this  superstitious  people  seemed 
as  flagrant  as  the  former,  gave  them  further  uneasiness,  and 
let  them  deeper  into  crime.  This  was  the  omission  of  sacri- 
ficing children  of  the  best  families  in  Carthage  to  Saturn. 
They  reproached  themselves  with  having  failed  to  pay  to  this 
god  the  honours  which  they  thought  due  to  him,  and  with 
having  used  fraud  towards  him,  by  substituting  the  children 
of  slaves  or  beggars  purchased  for  that  purpose,  in  their  sa- 
crifices. To  expiate  the  guilt  of  this  imagined  impiety,  a  sa- 
crifice was  made  of  200  children  of  the  first  rank,  as  upwards 
of  300  persons  offered  themselves  as  victims  to  pacify  the 
wrath  of  their  gods — so  low  were  they  sunk  in  the  debasing 
depths  of  idolatry  ;  and  so  true  it  is,  that  the  dark  regions  of 
the  earth,  those  destitute  of  the  light  of  the  gospel,  are,  in  all 
ages  of  the  world,  "  habitations  of  cruelty."  Thrice  glorious 
will  that  day  be  Avhen,  in  the  figurative  language  of  the  pro- 
phet, the  gates  of  the  church  of  Christ  "shall  be  open  con- 
tinually," when  "  they  shall  not  be  shut  day  nor  night,  that 
men  may  bring  unto"  her  "  the  forces  of  the  Gentiles,"  Isa. 
Ix.  11;  for  then,  such  deeds  of  darkness  Avill  cease. 

After  these  expiations,  expresses  were  despatched  to  Ha- 
milcar  in  Sicily,  with  the  tidings  of  what  had  taken  place  in 
Africa,  and  at  the  same  time,  to  request  immediate  succours. 
He  commanded  the  deputies  to  observe  the  strictest  silence 
on  the  subject  of  the  victory  of  Agathocles,  and  spread  a  con- 
trary report,  that  he  had  been  entirely  defeated,  his  forces  all 
destroyed,  and  his  whole  fleet  taken  by  the  Carthaginians ; 
and  in  confirmation  of  this  report,  he  showed  some  irons  be- 
longing to  x^essels,  which  it  was  pretended  had  been  taken 
and  sent  to  him.  This  report  was  believed  in  Syracuse,  and 
the  majority  were  for  capitulating,  when  a  galley  of  thirty 
oars,  built  in  haste  by  Agathocles,  arrived  in  the  port,  and 
forced  its  way  to  the  besieged.  The  news  of  Agathocles' 
victory  immediately  flew  through  the  city,  and  restored  alac- 
rity and  resolution  to  the  inhabitants.  Hamilcar  made  a  last 
effort  to  storm  the  city,  but  he  was  repulsed  ;  and  he  then 
raised  the  siege,  and  sent  5,000  men  to  the  relief  of  his  coun- 
try. Some  time  after,  having  resumed  the  attempt,  and  hop- 
ing to  surprise  the  Syracusans  by  attacking  them  in  the  night, 
his  design  was  discovered,  and  falling  into  the  enemy's  hands, 
he  was  put  to  death  with  the  most  cruel  tortures. 


OF   THE    CARTHAGINIANS.  237 

To  these  foreign  enemies,  was  joined  a  domestic  one,  who 
was  still  more  to  be  feared :  this  was  Bomilcar,  their  general, 
who  was  then  in  possession  of  the  first  post  in  Carthage.  He 
had  long  meditated  the  establishment  of  himself  as  tyrant  at 
Carthage,  and  attaining  the  sovereign  authority  there ;  and 
he  imagined  that  the  present  troubles  offered  him  the  wished- 
for  opportunity.  He  therefore  entered  the  city,  and  being 
seconded  by  a  small  number  of  citizens,  and  a  body  of  foreign 
soldiers,  he  proclaimed  hhnself  tyrant,  and  sustained  the  cha- 
racter he  had  taken  by  slaying  all  the  citizens  whom  he  met 
in  the  streets.  A  tumult  arising  in  the  city,  it  was  thought 
that  the  enemy  had  taken  it  by  some  treachery ;  but  when  it 
was  known  that  Bomilcar  caused  it,  the  young  men  took  up 
arms,  and  from  the  house-tops  discharged  darts  and  stones 
upon  the  soldiers'  heads.  When  Bomilcar  saw  an  army- 
marching  against  him,  he  retired  with  his  troops  to  an  emi- 
nence, with  a  design  to  make  a  vigorous  defence,  and  to  sell 
his  life  as  dear  as  possible.  To  spare  the  hves  of  the  citizens, 
a  pardon  was  proclaimed  for  all,  without  exception,  who  should 
lay  down  their  arms.  They  surrendered  upon  this  procla- 
mation, and  all  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  it,  Bomilcar,  their  chief, 
excepted;  for  the  Carthaginians,  without  regarding  their  oath, 
condemned  him  to  death,  and  fastened  him  to  a  cross,  where 
he  expired,  reproaching  them  for  their  injustice,  ingratitude, 
and  perfidy. 

Agathocles  had  allured  to  his  interest,  by  the  promise  of 
the  empire  of  Africa,  a  powerful  king  of  Cyrene,  named 
Ophelias  ;  but  as  he  did  not  scruple  to  commit  the  most 
dreadful  crimes,  when  he  thought  them  conducive  to  his  in- 
terests, the  credulous  monarch  had  no  sooner  put  himself  and 
his  army  in  his  power,  than  he  perfidiously  caused  him  to  be 
murdered,  in  order  that  the  army  of  Ophelias  might  be  en- 
tirely at  his  service.  Several  nations  were  now  joined  in  alli- 
ance with  Agathocles,  and  several  strongholds  garrisoned  by 
his  forces ;  and  as  he  now  saw  his  affairs  in  Africa  in  a  flour- 
ishing condition,  he  thought  it  proper  to  look  after  those  of 
Sicily  ;  accordingly,  leaving  the  command  of  his  army  to  his 
son  Archagathus,  he  returned  thither.  His  renown  went  be- 
fore him,  and  on  his  arrival  in  Sicily  many  towns  revolted  to 
him ;  but  adverse  news  soon  recalled  him  to  Africa.  His 
absence  had  ahered  the  face  of  things  there ;  and  all  his  en- 
deavours proved  incapable  of  restoring  them  to  their  former 
condition.  His  strongholds  had  surrendered  to  the  enemy, 
the  Africans  had  deserted  him,  some  of  his  troops  were  lost. 


238  THE   EARLY   CONQUESTS 

and  those  remaining  were  unable  to  oppose  the  enemy ;  and, 
as  he  had  no  ships  to  transport  them  into  Sicily,  as  the  enemy 
were  masters  at  sea,  and  he  could  not  hope  for  either  peace 
or  treaty,  he  stole  away  with  a  few  followers  into  Syracuse. 
His  soldiers,  seeing  themselves  thus  betrayed,  revenged  their 
wrongs  upon  his  sons,  whom  they  murdered,  and  then  they 
surrendered  to  the  enemy.  He  himself  was  soon  after  poi- 
soned by  one  Maenon. 

Within  this  period,  another  event,  as  related  by  Justin,  may 
be  recorded.  The  fame  of  Alexander's  conquests  made  the 
Carthaginians  fear  that  he  might  hereafter  turn  his  arms  to- 
wards Africa.  The  hapless  fate  of  Tyre,  whence  they  de- 
rived their  origin,  and  which  he  had  recently  destroyed ;  the 
building  of  Alexandria  upon  the  confines  of  Africa  and  Egypt ; 
the  uninterrupted  successes  of  that  prince,  whose  ambition  and 
good  fortune  were  boundless ;  all  this  naturally  alarmed  the 
Carthaginians.  To  discover  his  inclinations,  therefore,  Ha- 
milcar,  surnamed  Rhodanus,  pretending  to  have  been  driven 
from  his  country  by  the  cabals  of  his  enemies,  went  over  to 
the  camp  of  Alexander,  and  offered  him  his  services.  Ha- 
milcar  was  well  received  by  the  king,  and  had  several  con- 
ferences with  him,  the  result  of  which  he  transmitted  secretly 
to  his  country;  but  notwithstanding  he  served  his  country 
thus  devotedly,  and  at  the  expense  of  his  own  honour,  after 
Alexander's  death,  he  was  considered  its  betrayer  to  that 
prince,  and  was  condemned  to  die. 

The  next  wars  of  the  Carthaginians  in  Sicily  were  in  the 
time  of  Pyrrhus,  king  of  Epirus,  who  married  the  daughter 
of  Agathocles.  The  Romans,  to  whom  the  designs  of  that 
ambitious  prince  were  known,  in  order  to  strengthen  them- 
selves against  any  attempts  he  might  make  upon  Italy,  had 
renewed  their  treaties  with  the  Carthaginians,  who,  on  their 
side,  were  no  less  afraid  of  his  crossing  into  Sicily.  To  the 
articles  of  the  preceding  treaties,  there  was  added  an  engage- 
ment of  mutual  assistance,  in  case  either  Rome  or  Carthage 
should  be  attacked  by  Pyrrhus. 

The  foresight  of  the  Romans  was  well  founded.  Pyrrhus 
turned  his  arms  against  Italy,  (b.  c.  280;)  he  continued  there 
and  in  Sicily  six  years,  and  gained  many  victories.  The 
Carthaginians,  in  consequence  of  the  last  treaty,  thought 
themselves  bound  to  assist  the  Romans,  and  they  accordingly 
sent  a  fleet  of  six  score  sail,  under  the  command_  of  Mago. 
This  general,  in  an  audience  before  the  senate,  signified  to 
them  the  interest  which  his  superiors  took  in  the  war  waged 


OF   THE   CARTHAGINIANS.  239 

against  the  Romans,  and  proffered  their  assistance.  The 
senate  returned  thanks  for  the  obhging  offer,  but  at  present 
thought  fit  to  decline  it. 

Some  days  after,  Mago  repaired  to  Pyrrhus,  upon  pretence 
of  offering  the  mediation  of  Carthage,  for  terminating  his 
quarrel  with  the  Romans.  The  real  purport  of  his  visit  was, 
however,  to  discover,  if  possible,  his  designs  with  regard  to 
Sicily,  which  report  said  he  was  going  to  invade.  The  Car- 
thaginians were  afraid  that  either  Pyrrhus  or  the  Romans 
would  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  that  island,  and  transport 
forces  thither  for  its  conquest.  With  reference  to  Pyrrhus, 
their  fears  were  well  grounded,  for  soon  after  he  invaded 
Sicily.  At  first  his  conquests  were  so  rapid,  that  he  left  the 
Carthaginians,  in  the  whole  island,  only  the  single  town  of 
Lilybeum.  He  laid  siege  to  this  town  also,  but  meeting  with 
a  vigorous  resistance,  was  compelled  to  raise  the  siege  ;  his 
affairs,  however,  recalled  him  to  Italy.  As  he  was  embark- 
ing, he  turned  his  eyes  back  to  Sicily,  and  exclaimed,  "  What 
a  fine  field  of  battle  do  we  leave  the  Carthaginians  and  Ro- 
mans !"  a  prediction  which  was  soon  verified  in  all  its  awful 
consequences. 

After  his  departure,  b.  c.  275,  the  chief  magistracy  of  Sy- 
racuse was  conferred  on  Hiero,  who  afterwards  obtained  the 
name  and  dignity  of  king.  Hiero  was  appointed  to  carry 
oil  the  war  against  the  Carthaginians,  and  obtained  some  ad- 
vantages over  them.  But  now  a  common  interest  united 
^them  against  a  new  enemy,  who  began  to  appear  in  Sicily, 
to  the  alarm  of  both  powers :  these  were  the  Romans,  who, 
having  crushed  all  their  enemies  in  Italy,  were  now  power- 
ful enough  to  attempt  foreign  conquests ;  and  Sicily  was  so 
near  and  commodious,  that  they  formed  a  resolution  to  estab- 
lish themselves  there.  This  invasion  caused  the  rupture  be- 
tween the  Romans  and  the  Carthaginians,  and  gave  rise  to 
the  first  Punic  war,  the  particulars  of  which  will  be  recorded 
in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER   III. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  CARTHAGE  PROM  THE  FIRST  PUNIC 
WAR  TO  ITS  DESTRUCTION. 


THE   FIRST   PUNIC    WAR. 

The  first  Punic  war  commenced  264  years  b.  c,  and  it 
continued  for  twenty-three  years.  It  had  its  origin  in  the 
following  cause.  Some  Campanian  soldiers,  in  the  service 
of  Agathocles,  the  Sicilian  tyrant,  having  entered  as  friends 
into  Messina,  soon  after  murdered  part  of  the  townsmen,  drove 
out  the  rest,  married  their  wives,  seized  their  effects,  and  re- 
mained masters  of  the  city.  They  then  assumed  the  name 
of  Mamertines.  In  imitation  of  them,  and  hy  their  assistance, 
a  Roman  legion  treated  the  city  of  Rhegium,  lying  directly 
opposite  to  Messina,  in  the  same  barbarous  manner.  These 
two  cities,  supporting  one  another,  rendered  themselves  for- 
midable to  their  neighbors,  and  especially  Messina,  whicl^, 
became  very  powerful,  and  gave  great  uneasiness  and  offence, 
both  to  the  Syracusans  and  Carthaginians,  who  possessed  part 
of  Sicily.  As  soon  as  the  Romans  had  conquered  the  ene- 
mies they  had  so  long  contended  with,  and  particularly  Pyr- 
rhus,  they  thought  of  punishing  the  crime  of  their  citizens, 
who  had  so  wantonly  outraged  humanity  at  Rhegium.  Ac- 
cordingly, they  took  the  city,  and  slew  the  greater  part  of  the 
inhabitlmts  in  battle :  300  only  were  left,  and  they  were  car- 
ried to  Rome,  whipped,  and  then  publicly  beheaded  m  the 
forum.  The  view  which  the  Romans  had  in  this  execution, 
was,  to  prove  to  their  allies  their  own  sincerity  and  innocence. 
Rhegium  was  immediately  restored  to  its  lawful  possessors. 
The  Mamertines,  who  were  considerably  weakened  by  the  ruin 
of  their  confederate  city,  as  well  as  by  recent  losses  sustained 
by  the  attacks  of  the  Syracusans,  with  Hiero  at  their  head, 
thought  it  time  to  provide  for  their  safety ;  but  divisions  aris- 
ing among  them,  one  part  surrendered  the  citadel  to  the  Car- 


THE   FIRST   PUNIC    WAR.  241 

thaginianS)  whilst  the  other  solicited  the  aid  of  the  Romans, 
and  resolved  to  put  them  in  possession  of  the  city. 

The  Roman  senate  looked  upon  this  affair  in  a  two-fold 
light.  On  the  one  hand,  they  considered  that  it  was  unwor- 
thy the  Roman  senate  to  undertake  the  defence  of  traitors, 
whose  perfidy  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  Rhegians,  which 
they  had  visited  with  exemplary  punishment :  on  the  other, 
they  thought  it  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  stop  the  progress 
of  the  Carthaginians,  whose  thirst  for  sway  was  such,  that 
they  would  obtain  all  Sicily,  if  suffered  to  possess  themselves 
of  Messina,  from  whence  they  might  easily  pass  over  into 
Italy  itself  These  latter  reasons  appeared  very  strong ;  but 
motives  of  honour  and  justice  prevailed,  in  this  instance,  over 
those  of  interest  and  policy,  and  the  senate  decided  against 
affording  them  any  assistance.  The  people,  however,  were 
not  so  scrupulous ;  for,  in  an  assembly  called  to  discuss  this 
question,  it  was  resolved  that  the  Mamertines  should  be  as- 
sisted. The  consul  Appius  immediately  set  forward  with  his 
army,  and,  eluding  the  vigilance  of  the  Carthaginian  general, 
boldly  crossed  the  strait,  and  obtained,  partly  by  force  and 
partly  by  stratagem,  possession  both  of  the  citadel  and  the 
city.  The  Carthaginians  and  Hiero  prepared  to  besiege  the 
town,  but  the  consul  defeated  them  separately,  and  laid  waste 
the  neighbouring  country.  This  was  the  first  expedition 
which  the  Romans  made  out  of  Italy,  and  this  was  the  first 
step  by  which  they  ascended  to  that  height  of  military  renown 
for  which  they  became  so  celebrated. 

Hiero,  having  reconciled  himself  to  the  Romans,  and  en- 
tered into  alliance  with  them,  the  Carthaginians  bent  all  their 
thoughts  on  Sicily,  and  sent  numerous  armies  thither.  Agri- 
gentum  was  their  rendezvous,  which  being  attacked  by  the 
Romans,  was  taken,  after  they  had  besieged  it  seven  months, 
and  gained  one  battle. 

The  advantage  of  this  victory,  and  the  conquest  of  so  im- 
portant a  city,  was  great ;  but  the  Romans  were  sensible  that, 
whilst  the  Carthaginians  continued  masters  at  sea,  the  mari- 
time places  in  the  island  would  always  co-operate  with  them, 
and  place  it  out  of  their  power  to  expel  them  from  Sicily. 
Besides,  they  were  not  pleased  to  see  Africa  enjoy  profound 
tranquillity  at  a  time  that  Italy  was  visited  by  the  frequent  in- 
cursions of  its  enemies  ;  they,  therefore,  now  first  formed  the 
design  of  obtaining  a  fleet,  and  of  disputing  the  empire  of  the 
sea  with  the  Carthaginians.  The  undertaking  was  bold,  and 
in  appearance  rash.     They  were  not  at  that  time  possessed 

VOL  n.  21 


242  THE    FIRST    PUNIC    WAR. 

of  a  single  vessel  which  they  could  call  their  own,  and  the 
ships  which  had  transported  their  forces  into  Sicily  had  been 
borrowed  of  their  neighbours.  They  were,  moreover,  inex- 
perienced in  sea  affairs,  had  no  mechanics  acquainted  with 
the  building  of  ships,  and  knew  not  even  the  shape  of 
the  quinqueremes,  or  galleys  with  five  oars,  in  which  the 
strength  of  fleets  at  that  time  consisted.  They  had,  however, 
the  year  before  seen  one  upon  the  coast  of  Italy,  and,  fired 
with  ambition,  they  applied  themselves  with  ardour  to  build- 
ing ships  of  the  same  form.  In  the  mean  time,  they  collected 
a  set  of  rowers,  and  seating  them  on  benches  arranged  as 
those  in  the  galleys,  taught  them  an  exercise  and  discipHne 
unknown  before.  In  two  months,  100  galleys  of  five  benches 
of  oars,  and  twenty  of  three  benches,  were  built,  and  the  fleet 
put  to  sea  under  the  command  of  the  consul  Duillius. 

The  Romans  met  with  the  Carthaginians  near  the  coast  of 
Mylae,  and  both  sides  prepared  for  an  engagement.  As  the 
Roman  galleys  were  clumsily  built,  they  were  not  easy  to 
steer ;  but  this  inconvenience  was  supplied  by  a  machine 
afterwards  known  by  the  name  of  the  corvus,  crow,  or  crane ; 
by  the  help  of  which  they  grappled  the  enemy's  ships,  boarded 
them,  and  immediately  came  to  a  close  engagement.  The 
signal  was  given.  The  Carthaginian  fleet  consisted  of  130 
sail,  under  the  command  of  Hannibal.  He  himself  was  on 
board  a  galley  of  seven  benches  of  oars,  which  had  once  be- 
longed to  Pyrrhus.  Despising  enemies,  who  were  ignorant 
of  sea  affairs,  the  Carthaginians  came  forward  boldly,  believ- 
ing that  the  victory  was  theirs.  They  were,  nevertheless, 
surprised  when  they  saw  the  corvus  thrown  forcibly  into  their 
vessels,  and  grappling  them  in  spite  of  all  resistance.  By 
this  means  the  form  of  the  engagement  was  changed :  the 
Carthaginians  were  compelled  to  struggle  with  the  enemy  as 
though  they  were  on  land,  and  they  were  unable  to  sustain 
the  attack.  A  fearful  slaughter  ensued ;  the  Carthaginians 
lost  four  score  vessels,  among  which  was  the  admiral's  gal- 
ley, he  himself  escaping  in  a  small  boat  with  difficulty.  This 
event  occurred  260  years  b.  c. 

So  great  and  unexpected  a  victory  raised  the  courage  of  the 
Romans,  and  redoubled  their  eagerness  for  the  continuance 
of  the  war  ;  and,  growing  still  stronger  at  sea  during  the 
next  two  years,  they  meditated  the  design  of  carrying  the 
war  into  Africa,  and  of  combating  the  Carthaginians  in  their 
own  country.     There  was  nothing  the  latter  dreaded  more  ; 


THE   FIRST  PUNIC   WAR.  243 

and  to  avoid  this  evil,  they  resolved  to  meet  the  enemy,  what- 
ever might  be  the  consequence. 

The  Romans  had  elected  M.  Atilius  Regulus  and  L.  Man- 
lius  consuls  for  this  year.  (b.c.  259.)  Their  fleet  consisted, 
according  to  Polybius,  of  330  vessels,  while  that  of  the  Car- 
thaginians, who  set  sail  at  the  same  time,  to  intercept  the  con- 
suls in  their  passage,  consisted  of  twenty  more,  and  was  more 
numerously  manned.  The  two  fleets  came  in  sight  of  each 
other  near  Ecnomus  in  Sicily,  and  they  soon  met  in  combat. 
As  the  courage  on  both  sides  was  equal,  the  victory  was  long 
doubtful;  but  at  length  the  Carthaginians  were  overcome, 
more  than  sixty  of  their  ships  were  taken,  and  thirty  sunk. 
The  Romans  lost  only  twenty-four. 

The  result  of  this  victory,  as  the  Romans  designed,  was 
their  sailing  to  Africa  and  landing  there.  They  commenced 
hostilities  by  taking  a  town  called  Clypea,  (a  name  derived 
from  clypeus^  a  shield,)  which  possessed  a  commodious  haven. 
From  thence,  after  having  sent  an  express  to  Rome  to  give 
advice  of  their  landing,  and  to  receive  orders  from  the  senate, 
they  overran  the  country,  making  dreadful  havoc,  bringing 
away  flocks  of  cattle,  and  20,000  prisoners. 

After  taking  several  castles,  Regulus  laid  siege  to  Adis, 
one  of  the  strongest  fortresses  in  Africa.  The  Carthaginians, 
exasperated  at  seeing  their  enemies  thus  laying  waste  their 
lands,  at  length  took  the  field,  and  marched  against  them,  to 
force  them  to  raise  the  siege.  With  this  view,  they  posted 
themselves  on  a  hill  overlooking  the  Roman  camp,  and  which 
was  convenient  for  annoying  the  enemy.  At  the  same  time, 
however,  it  rendered  one  part  of  their  army  useless,  namely, 
that  of  their  horses  and  elephants,  which  are  of  no  service 
but  in  plains.  Regulus,  taking  advantage  of  this  mistake, 
fell  upon  them,  and  after  meeting  with  a  feeble  resistance,  put 
them  to  flight,  plundered  their  camp,  and  laid  waste  the  adja- 
cent country ;  then,  having  taken  Tunis,  (now  the  seat  of  a 
Turkish  bey,  and  the  capital  of  a  large  territory  called  the 
kingdom  of  Tunis,)  which  brought  him  near  Carthage,  he 
encamped  his  army  there. 

The  Carthaginians  were  in  the  utmost  alarm.  Every  thing 
had  been  disastrous :  their  forces  had  been  defeated  by  sea 
and  land,  and  upwards  of  200  towns  had  surrendered  to  the 
conqueror.  Besides  this,  the  Numidians  made  greater  havoc 
in  their  territories  than  even  the  Romans.  They  expected 
every  moment  to  see  their  capital  attacked :  and  their  appre- 
hensions were  increased  when  they  saw  peasants  from  ail 


244  THE   FIRST   PUNIC    WAR. 

quarters,  with  their  wives  and  children,  flock  to  Carthage  for 
safety ;  for  they  expected  from  thence  a  famine  in  case  of  a 
siege.  Regulus,  afraid  of  having  the  glory  of  his  victory 
torn  from  him  by  a  successor,  made  some  proposals  of  an  ac- 
commodation to  the  vanquished  enemy ;  but  the  conditions 
were  such  that  they  could  not  be  accepted.  As  he  did  not 
doubt  of  his  being  soon  master  of  Carthage,  he  would  not 
abate  any  thing  in  his  demands  ;  but,  by  an  infatuation  which 
is  almost  inseparable  from  great  and  unexpected  success,  he 
treated  his  foes  with  haughtiness,  and  pretended  that  every 
thing  he  suffered  them  to  possess  ought  to  be  esteemed  a  fa- 
vour, adding  this  insult,  "  That  they  ought  either  to  overcome, 
like  brave  men,  or  learn  to  submit  to  the  victor."  Such  harsh 
and  disdainful  treatment  only  increased  their  resentment,  and 
they  resolved  rather  to  die  than  to  accept  any  terms  which 
might  derogate  from  the  dignity  of  Carthage, 

Reduced  to  this  fatal  extremity,  they  received  a  reinforce- 
ment of  auxiliary  troops  from  Greece,  having  at  their  head, 
Xanthippus  the  Lacedemonian,  who  had  been  educated  in  the 
discipline  of  Sparta,  and  learned  the  art  of  war  in  that  school, 
When  he  had  heard  the  circumstances  of  the  last  battle,  had 
clearly  discerned  the  occasion  of  its  being  lost,  and  perfectly 
informed  himself  in  what  the  strength  of  Carthage  consisted, 
he  declared  publicly  that  the  misfortunes  of  the  Carthaginians 
were  owing  to  the  incapacity  of  their  generals.  This  was 
reported  to  the  council,  and  its  members  requested  him  to  at- 
tend them.  He  enforced  his  opinion  with  such  strong  and 
convincing  reasons,  that  the  oversights  committed  were  appa- 
rent to  e\  ery  one  ;  and  he  proved  as  clearly,  that  by  a  con- 
duct opposite  to  the  former,  they  would  not  only  secure  their 
dominions,  but  drive  the  enemy  out  of  them.  The  courage 
and  hopes  of  the  Carthaginians  were  again  revived  ;  and 
Xanthippus  was  entreated,  and,  in  some  measure,  compelled 
to  accept  the  command  of  the  army. 

The  Carthaginian  army  was  composed  of  12,000  foot  and 
4,000  horse,  and  about  100  elephants.  That  of  the  Romans, 
as  near  as  can  be  discovered,  consisted  of  15,000  foot  and  300 
horse. 

The  success  of  this  battle,  however  inconsiderable  it  may 
appear  from  the  paucity  of  the  numbers,  was  nevertheless  to 
determine  the  fate  of  Carthage.  The  combatants  came  in 
sight  of  each  other,  and  the  two  armies  being  drawn  up  with 
all  the  skill  their  respective  generals  could  exercise,  they 
waited  only  for  the  signal.     At  length  Xanthippus  ordered 


THE   FIRST   PUNIC    WAR.  245 

the  elephants  to  advance  to  break  the  ranks  of  the  enemy, 
and  commanded  the  two  wings  of  the  cavalry  to  charge  the 
Romans  in  flank.  At  the  same  time,  the  latter,  clashing  their 
arms,  and  shouting  after  their  usual  wont,  advanced  against 
the  enemy.  Their  cavalry,  being  so  much  inferior  to  that 
of  the  Carthaginians,  could  not  stand  the  onset  long.  The 
infantry  in  the  left  wing,  to  avoid  the  attacks  of  the  elephants, 
and  show  how  little  they  feared  the  mercenaries,  who  formed 
the  enemy's  right  wing,  attacked  it,  put  it  to  flight,  and  pur- 
sued it  to  the  camp.  Those  in  the  first  ranks,  who  were 
opposed  to  the  elephants,  were,  however,  broken  and  trodden 
under  foot ;  and  when  the  rear,  attacked  by  the  enemy's 
cavalry,  was  obliged  to  face  about  and  receive  it,  and  those 
•who  had  broken  through  the  elephants  met  the  phalanx  of  the 
Carthaginians,  which  had  not  yet  engaged,  and  which  re- 
ceived them  in  good  order,  the  Romans  were  routed  on  all 
sides  and  defeated.  Only  2000  escaped  ;  all  the  rest,  Regu- 
lus  and  500  prisoners  excepted,  were  left  dead  on  the  field. 
The  Carthaginians,  after  having  stripped  those  who  had  been 
slain,  entered  Carthage  in  triumph,  dragging  after  them  the 
unfortunate  Regulus  and  the  rest  of  the  prisoners ;  after 
which,  the  whole  city  crowded  to  the  temples  of  their  false 
gods  to  return  thanks,  and  then  devoted  several  days  to  fes- 
tivities and  rejoicings.  The  date  of  this  event  was  256  years 
B.  c. 

Xanthippus,  we  are  told  by  Polybius,  who  had  contributed 
so  much  to  this  change,  had  the  wisdom  to  withdraw  shortly 
after,  from  the  apprehension  lest  his  glory,  which  had  hitherto 
been  unsullied,  might  after  this  first  blaze,  insensibly  fade 
away,  and  leave  him  exposed  to  the  darts  of  envy  and  cal- 
umny, in  a  foreign  country,  and  among  a  cruel  and  treacher- 
ous people.  We  read  in  Appian,  however,  that  the  Cartha- 
ginians were  jealous  of  his  honour,  and  that,  unable  to  en- 
dure the  thought  that  they  should  stand  indebted  to  Sparta  for 
their  safety,  upon  pretence  of  conducting  him  and  his  attend- 
ants back  xvith  honour  to  his  own  country,  gave  private  orders 
to  have  them  all  put  to  death  on  their  passage ;  as  though 
with  him  they  could  have  buried  in  the  waves  for  ever  the 
memory  of  his  services,  and  their  ingratitude.  It  is  a  matter 
of  doubt  which  of  these  historians  is  correct,  but  the  former 
statement  seems  the  most  probable,  though  the  perfidy  of  the 
Carthaginians  was  groverbial. 

The  disaster  which  the  Romans  met  with  in  Africa  by  no 
21* 


246  THE   FIRST   PUNIC   WAR. 

means  discouraged  them.  They  made,  indeed,  greater  pre- 
parations than  before  to  retrieve  their  loss,  and  they  put  to 
sea  the  following  campaign  with  360  vessels.  The  Cartha- 
ginians sailed  out  to  meet  them  with  200,  but  they  were  re- 
pulsed in  an  engagement  fought  on  the  coasts  of  Sicily,  with 
the  loss  of  114  ships. 

The  Romans,  after  this  sailed  to  Africa  and  took  in  the  few 
soldiers  who  had  escaped  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy  after  the 
defeat  of  Regulus,  and  who  had  defended  themselves  in  Cly- 
pea  against  all  opposers.  On  their  return,  the  Romans  were 
overtaken  by  a  storm  w^hich  destroyed  nearly  the  whole  of 
their  fleet.  A  similar  misfortune  attended  them  also  during 
the  following  year  ;  but  they  consoled  themselves  for  this  dou- 
ble loss  by  a  victory  which  they  gained  over  Asdrubal,  from 
whom  they  took  nearly  140  elephants.  This  news  being 
brought  to  Rome,  filled  the  whole  city  with  joy,  and  it  was 
deemed  expedient  to  make  a  greater  effort  than  ever,  in  order 
to  finish,  if  possible,  a  war  which  had  continued  fourteen 
years..  The  two  consuls  accordingly  set  sail  b.  c.  251,  with 
a  fleet  of  200  ships,  and  arriving  in  Sicily,  formed  the  bold 
design  of  besieging  Lilybeum. 

The  town  of  Lilybeum  was  the  strongest  which  the  Car- 
thaginians possessed  in  Sicily,  and  the  loss  of  it  would  have 
been  attended  with  that  of  every  part  of  the  island,  and  would 
have  opened  to  the  Romans  a  free  passage  into  Africa. 
Great  exertions  were  therefore  made  for  its  retention.  Imilco 
was  governor  there,  with  10,000  regular  forces,  exclusive 
of  the  inhabitants ;  and  Hannibal,  the  son  of  Hamilcar, 
brought  him  as  many  more  from  Carthage. 

The  Romans  lost  no  time.  Having  brought  forward  their 
battering  rams,  they  demolished  several  towers  ;  and  gaining 
ground  daily,  they  made  such  progress  as  excited  in  the  be- 
sieged fears  for  the  event.  The  governor  saw  indeed,  that 
the  city  would  be  lost,  if  the  engines  of  the  Romans  were  not 
destroyed.  Accordingly,  he  prepared  his  forces  for  this  en- 
terprise ;  he  sent  them  out  at  day-break  with  torches,  tow,  and 
all  kinds  of  combustible  material ;  and  at  the  same  time  at- 
tacked all  the  engines.  The  Romans  exerted  their  utmost 
efforts  to  repel  them,  and  the  engagement  was  very  fatal ; 
every  one,  assailant  as  well  as  defendant,  stood  to  his  post, 
and  chose  to  die  rather  than  retreat.  At  length,  after  a  long 
resistance,  the  besieged  sounded  a  retreat^^and  left  the  Romans 
in  possession  of  their  works.     The  conflict  being  over  Han- 


THE   FIRST   PUNIC   WAR.  247 

nibal  embarked  secretly  in  the  night,  and  sailed  for  Drepanum, 
a  commodious  port  about  120  furlongs  from  Lilybeum,where 
Adherbal  commanded  for  the  Carthaginians. 

Animated  by  their  late  successes,  the  Romans  renewed  the 
attack  with  greater  vigour  than  heretofore.  But  they  were 
to  suffer  a  reverse.  A  furious  wind  rising  suddenly,  some  of 
the  mercenaries  represented  to  the  governor,  that  it  was  a 
favourable  opportunity  for  them  to  fire  the  engines  of  the  be- 
siegers, especially  as  the  wind  blew  against  them ;  and  they 
seconded  their  representation  by  offering  themselves  for  the 
enterprise.  The  offer  was  accepted,  and  being  furnished 
with  every  thing  necessary,  they  sallied  forth  from  the  city. 
They  succeeded  in  their  design  :  in  a  moment  the  fire  caught 
all  the  engines,  and  the  Romans  could  not  extinguish  it,  be- 
cause, the  flames  spreading  every  where,  the  winds  carried 
the  sparks  and  smoke  full  in  their  faces,  so  that  they  could 
not  see  where  to  apply  a  remedy.  Through  this  event,  the 
Romans  lost  all  hopes  of  being  able  to  carry  the  place  by 
force  ;  they  therefore  turned  the  siege  into  a  blockade,  raised 
a  strong  line  of  contra vallation  round  the  town,  and  dispersing 
their  army  in  every  part  of  the  neighbourhood,  resolved  to 
effect  by  time  what  they  could  not  perform  by  force. 

When  the  transactions  of  the  siege  of  Lilybeum,  and  the 
loss  of  a  part  of  their  forces,  were  known  at  Rome,  the  citi- 
zens redoubled  their  exertions  ;  every  man  strove  to  be  fore- 
most in  the  muster  roll ;  so  that  in  a  very  little  time,  an  army 
was  raised  of  10,000  men,  who  crossing  the  strait,  marched  by 
land  to  join  the  besiegers. 

At  the  same  time,  P.  Claudius  Pulcher,  the  consul,  formed 
a  design  of  attacking  Adherbal  in  Drepanum  (b.  c.  249.) 
Flushed  with  hope,  the  better  to  conceal  his  design,  he  sailed 
out  with  his  fleet  in  the  night.  But  he  had  to  cope  Avith  a 
general  whose  vigilance  he  could  not  elude,  and  who  did  not 
even  give  him  time  to  draw  up  his  ships  in  line  of  battle,  but 
fell  vigorously  upon  him,  whilst  his  fleet  was  in  confusion. 
The  Carthaginians  gained  a  complete  victory.  Of  the  Ro- 
man fleet,  only  thirty  vessels  escaped  ;  the  rest  amounting  to 
ninety-three,  were,  with  all  on  board  them,  taken  by  the 
enemy,  a  few  soldiers  excepted. 

Junius,  the  colleague  of  P.  Claudius  Pulcher,  was  neither 
more  prudent  nor  fortunate  ;  for  he  lost  his  whole  fleet  by 
misconduct.  Endeavouring  to  atone  for  his  misfortune  by 
some  great  action,  he  held  a  secret  correspondence  with  the 


248  THE  FIRST   PUNIC   WAR. 

inhabitants  of  Eryx,*  and  by  that  means  obtained  possession 
of  the  city.  On  the  summit  of  the  mountain  stood  the  temple 
of  Venus  Erycina,  so  called  from  being  worshipped  at  Eryx, 
the  most  beautiful  as  well  as  the  richest  of  all  the  Sicilian 
temples.  The  city  stood  a  little  below  the  summit  of  this 
mountain,  and  the  only  access  to  it  was  by  a  long  and  rugged 
road.  Junius  posted  one  part  of  his  troops  upon  the  top,  and 
the  remainder  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  imagining  that  he 
had  in  that  position  nothing  to  fear.  He  was  soon  un- 
deceived ;  for  Hamilcar,  surnamed  Barca,  father  of  the  cele- 
brated Hannibal,  who  was  now  (b.  c.  247)  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  Carthaginian  army,  found  means  to  get  into  the  city, 
which  lay  between  the  two  camps  of  the  Romans,  and  there 
fortified  himself.  From  this  position  he  harassed  the  Ro- 
mans for  two  years  incessantly. 

During  the  next  five  years,  nothing  memorable  was  per- 
formed on  either  side.  The  Romans  had  imagined  that  their 
land  forces  would  be  capable  of  finishing  the  siege  of  Lily- 
beum ;  but,  as  they  saw  it  protracted,  they  returned  to  their 
original  plan,  and  made  extraordinary  efforts  to  fit  out  a  new 
fleet.  The  public  treasury  was  at  a  low  ebb ;  but  this  want 
was  supplied  by  individual  zeal :  every  man,  according  to  his 
circumstances,  contributed  to  the  common  expense,  and  ad- 
vanced money  upon  public  security,  by  which  means  200 
ships  were  in  a  little  time  prepared  for  a  new  enterprise. 
The  command  was  given  to  Lutatius,  the  consul,  b.  c.  242. 
The  enemy's  fleet  had  retired  into  Africa  ;  the  consul  there- 
fore, easily  seized  upon  all  the  advantageous  posts  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Lilybeum,  and  foreseeing  an  engagement, 
he  omitted  no  precautions  to  ensure  suce&s. 

He  was  soon  informed  that  the  Carthaginian  fleet  drew 
near.  This  fleet  was  under  the  command  of  Hanno,  who 
landed  in  a  small  island  called  Hiera,  opposite  to  Drepanum, 
with  the  design  to  reach  Eryx  undiscovered  by  the  Romans, 
to  reinforce  his  troops,  and  to  take  Barca  on  board  to  assist 
him  in  the  expected  engagement.  But  the  consul  suspected 
his  intention ;  and  having  assembled  all  his  best  forces,  he 
sailed  for  the  small  island  ^-Egusa,  or  ^Egates,  which  lay  near 

*It  must  be  observed  here,  that  the  port  of  Drepanum  lay  north  of 
Lilybesum  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Eryx.  The  city  of  Eryx  stood  on  the 
decUvity  of  the  mountain,  and  the  temple  of  Venus  on  the  summit. 
Thus  the  port,  city,  and  the  temple  were  connected  together.  The  moun- 
tain is  now  called  Monte  de  San  Julianaj  and  is  reckoned  the  highest  in 
Sicily,  iEtna  excepted. 


THE   FIRST   PUNIC    WAR.  249 

Hiera,  He  acquainted  his  officers  with  the  design  he  had 
of  attacking  the  enemy  on  the  morrow;  and,  according- 
ly, at  day-break  he  prepared  to  do  so.  On  the  report 
of  the  Romans  being  in  motion,  the  Carthaginians  had  put  to 
sea  a  fleet  fitted  out  in  haste,  the  soldiers  being  all  mer- 
cenaries, newly  levied,  without  any  experience,  resolution,  or 
zeal.  This  soon  appeared  in  the  engagement ;  for  they  could 
not  sustain  the  first  attack.  Fifty  of  their  vessels  were  sunk, 
and  seventy  taken,  with  all  on  board.  The  rest,  favoured  by 
a  wind,  made  the  best  of  their  way  to  Hiera.  The  consul 
sailed  immediately  for  Lilybeum,  and  joined  his  forces  to 
those  of  the  besiegers. 

When  the  news  of  this  defeat  arrived  at  Carthage,  it  oc- 
casioned the  greatest  surprise  and  alarm.  The  senate,  how- 
ever, did  not  lose  their  courage,  though  they  saw  themselves 
unable  to  contine  the  war.  As  the  Romans  were  now  mas- 
ters of  the  sea,  it  was  not  possible  for  the  Carthaginians  to 
send  either  provisions  or  reinforcements  to  their  armies  in 
Sicily.  An  express  was,  therefore,  immediately  despatched  to 
Barca,  the  general  there,  empowering  him  to  act  as  he  should 
think  proper.  Barca,  so  long  as  he  could  entertain  hope, 
had  done  every  thing  that  could  be  expected  from  the  most 
intrepid  courage,  and  the  most  consummate  wisdom.  But  hav- 
ing now  no  resource  left,  he  sent  a  deputation  to  the  consul, 
in  order  to  treat  about  a  peace.  Prudence,  says  Polybius, 
consists  in  knowing  how  to  resist  and  yield  at  a  seasonable 
juncture.  Lutatius  was  not  insensible  how  tired  the  Romans 
were  become  of  a  war,  which  had  exhausted  their  resources, 
and  thinned  the  ranks  of  their  citizens  ;  and  the  awful  con- 
sequences, which  had  attended  on  the  inexorable  conduct  of 
Regulus,  were  fresh  in  his  memory ;  he  therefore  complied 
without  difficulty,  and  dictated  the  following  treaty : — "  There 
shall  be  peace  between  Rome  and  Carthage  (in  case  the  Ro- 
man people  approve  of  it)  on  the  following  conditions  :  the 
Carthaginians  shall  evacuate  all  Sicily  ;  shall  no  longer  make 
war  upon  Hiero,  the  Syracusans,  or  their  allies :  they  shall  re- 
store to  the  Romans  without  ransom  all  the  prisoners  which 
they  have  taken  from  them  ;  and  pay  them  within  twenty- 
years,  2200*  Euboic  talents  of  silver." 

When  these  conditions  were  brought  to  Rome,  the  people, 
disapproving  of  them,  sent  ten  commissioners  to  Sicily  to  ter- 
minate the  affair.     These  made  no  alteration  as  to  the  sub- 

*  515,000Z.  English  money. 


250  THE  LYBIAN   WAR, 

Stance  of  the  treaty ;  only  shortening  the  time  appointed  for 
the  payment,  reducing  it  to  ten  years  ;  1000  talents  were  ad- 
ded to  the  sum  that  had  been  stipulated,  which  were  to  be 
paid  immediately ;  and  the  Carthaginians  were  required  to 
depart  out  of  all  the  islands  situated  between  Italy  and  Sicily. 
Sardinia  was  not  comprehended  in  this  treaty  ;  but  they 
resigned  it  by  another  which  was  made  some  years  after- 
wards. 

Such  was  the  conclusion  of  a  war,  one  of  the  longest  men- 
tioned in  history.  We  see  in  the  perusal  of  it,  traces  of  the 
fallen  nature  of  man,  written,  as  it  were,  in  characters  of 
blood.  Ambition  and  revenge — these  were  the  sources  from 
whence  it  arose,  and  by  w^hich  it  was  continued,  through  this 
long  period  of  time.  Nor  could  these  passions  be  appeased 
till  seas  of  blood  were  shed,  thousands  of  parents  were  left 
childless,  thousands  of  wives  made  widows,  thousands  of 
children  fatherless,  and  one  of  the  contending  powers  saw  it- 
self on  the  brink  of  ruin.  Then,  when  all  these  evils,  and 
more,  had  occurred,  ambition  descended  from  its  towering 
height,  revenge  repressed  its  resentment,  and  peace  that  glad- 
dens the  fair  creation  of  God  by  its  hallowed  influence,  was 
eagerly  sought  for  and  obtained.  But  such  is  the  state  of  man 
in  all  ages,  and  in  all  countries,  where  the  ever-blessed  gospel 
of  Christ  has  not  enlightened  the  mind,  and  renovated  the 
heart.  In  the  Christian's  heart,  where  peace  is  obtained 
through  the  blood  of  the  cross,  there  love  will  prevail ;  and 
when  all  nations  are  governed  by  the  principles  of  the  gospel, 
war  will  cease.  Under  its  hallowed  influence,  men  take  up 
the  burden  of  the  song  of  the  angels,  when  the  "  Prince  of 
Peace"  was  born,  and  sing,  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest, 
and  on  earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men :"  or,  as  a 
commentator  well  paraphrases  this  passage :  "  Glory  be  to 
God  in  the  highest  heavens :  let  all  the  angelic  beings  re- 
resound  his  praises  ;  for,  with  the  Redeemer's  birth,  peace 
and  all  manner  of  happiness  are  come  down  to  dwell  on 
earth ;  yea,  the  overflowings  of  Divine  good  will  and  favour 
are  now  exercised  toward  men." 

THE    LIBYAN    WAR,  OR    AGAINST    THE    MERCENARIES. 

The  Carthaginians  were  not  long  permitted  to  enjoy  peace. 
They  had  often  hired  a  foreign  sword,  to  carry  desolation  into 
distant  countries,  and  now,  scarcely  had  peace  been  agreed 
upon,  when  that  same  sword  was  turned  against  themselves  in 


THE   LIBYAN   WAR.  251 

the  very  heart  of  their  republic.  The  mercenary  troops  who 
had  served  under  them  in  Sicily,  waged  a  war  against  them 
for  three  years  and  a  half,  which  was  conducted  with  such 
cruelty  and  barbarity,  on  both  sides,  as  scarcely  meets  with 
a  parallel  in  the  voluminous  annals  of  history.  The  occasion 
of  it  was  as  follows. 

As  soon  as  the  treaty  was  concluded  with  the  Romans, 
Hamilcar,  having  carried  to  Lilybeum  the  forces  which  were 
in  Eryx,  resigned  his  commission,  and  left  to  Gisgo,  gover- 
nor of  the  place,  the  care  of  transporting  the  mercenary  forces 
to  Africa.  Gisgo,  as  though  he  foresaw  what  would  happen, 
sent  only  a  portion  at  a  time,  in  order  that  they  might  be  paid 
and  sent  home  before  the  arrival  of  the  rest.  This  conduct 
evinced  great  foresight  in  Gisgo,  but  it  was  not  seconded  at 
Carthage.  As  the  treasury  of  the  republic  had  been  exhausted 
by  the  long  war,  the  forces  were  not  paid  as  they  arrived, 
but  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  wait  for  the  rest,  in  the  hopes 
of  obtaining  from  all  a  remission  of  some  part  of  the  arrears. 
This  was  a  great  oversight ;  for  these  soldiers,  having  been 
long  accustomed  to  a  licentious  life,  caused  great  disturbances 
in  the  city ;  to  remedy  which  it  was  proposed  to  their  officers, 
to  remove  them  all  to  a  neighbouring  town  called  Sicca,  and 
there  supply  them  with  whatever  was  necessary  for  their  sub- 
sistence, till  their  companions  arrived.  The  Carthaginians 
committed  another  error  in  refusing  to  let  them  leave  their 
baggage,  wives,  and  children,  in  Carthage,  as  they  desired ; 
for,  if  they  had,  these  would  have  been  so -many  hostages,  and 
would  have  ensured  peace. 

At  length,  being  all  met  together  at  Sicca,  they  computed 
the  arrears  of  their  pay,  which  they  made  amount  to  more 
than  was  due,  and  they  added  to  the  computation  the  promises 
received  at  different  times,  as  an  encouragement  to  do  their 
duty.  Hanno,  who  was  the  governor  of  Africa,  and  had 
been  sent  to  them  from  the  magistrates  of  Carthage,  proposed 
to  them  to  consent  to  an  abatement  of  arrears,  in  considera- 
tion of  the  distress  to  which  the  commonwealth  was  reduced. 
This  proposal  was  received  with  disdain.  Complaints,  mur- 
murs, seditions  and  insolent  clamours,  were  heard  on  every 
side ;  and  the  troops  being  composed  of  different  nations,  who 
were  strangers  to  each  other's  language,  were  incapable  of 
hearing  reason  when  they  once  mutinied.  Finally,  trans- 
ported °  with  rage,  they  marched  towards  Carthage,  to  the 
number  of  twenty  thousand,  and  encamped  at  Tunis,  not  far 
from  that  city. 


iid  mE  LIBYAN   WAK. 

When  it  was  too  late,  the  Carthaginians  discorered  theh 
error  ;  and  there  was  no  compliance,  how  grovelling  soever, 
to  which  they  did  not  stoop  to  soothe  the  exasperated  soldiers. 
But  this  was  of  no  avail ;  they  took  advantage  of  their  fear, 
and  practised  every  art  which  could  be  devised  to  obtain 
money  from  them.  As  nothing  could  be  settled,  the  Cartha- 
ginians with  great  difficulty  prevailed  on  them  to  refer  them- 
selves to  the  opinion  of  some  general  who  had  commanded  in 
Sicily.  Accordingly  they  fixed  upon  Gisgo^  who  had  always 
been  very  acceptable  to  them.  This  general  harangued  them 
in  a  mild  and  insinuating  manner,  recalling  to  mind  the  long 
time  they  had  been  in  the  Carthaginian  service^  the  sums  they 
had  received  from  the  republic,  and  then  granted  almost  the 
whole  of  their  demands. 

The  treaty  was  upon  the  point  of  being  concluded^  when 
two  mutineers  occasioned  a  tumult.  One  of  these  was  Spen- 
dius,  a  Capuan,  who  had  been  a  slave  at  Rome,  and  had  fled 
for  -protection  to  the  Caithaginians.  The  fear  this  man  felt 
of  falling  into  the  hands  of  his  former  master  (by  wliom^  ac- 
cording to  custom,  he  would  have  been  put  to  death)  prompted 
him  to  break  aff  the  agreement  In  this  act,  he  was  seconded 
by  one  Matho,  who  had  been  very  active  in  forming  the  con- 
spiracy. These  two  represented  to  the  Africans,  that  the  in- 
stant after  their  companions  should  be  discharged  and  sent 
home,  they  being  left  alone,  vv  ould  fail  a  sacrifice  to  the  rage 
of  the  Carthaginians,  who  would  take  vengeance  upon  them 
for  the  common  rebellion.  This,  again,  roused  their  fury^ 
and  they  immediately  made  choice  of  Spendius  and  Matho 
for  their  leaders.  No  remonstrances  were  heard,  or  allowed 
to  be  heard,  and  they  commenced  hostilities  by  plundering 
Gisgo's  tent,  and  by  dragging  that  general  himself,  with  ali 
his  attendants,  after  treating  them  with  the  utmost  indignities, 
to  prison.  All  the  cities  of  Africa,  to  which  they  had  sent 
deputies  to  exhort  them  to  recover  their  liberty,  came  over  to 
them,  Utica  and  Hippacra  excepted,  which  cities  they  imme- 
diately besieged. 

Carthage  had  never  before  been  exposed  to  such  imminent 
danger.  The  citizens  drew  their  subsistence  from  the  rents 
or  revenues  of  their  lands,  and  the  public  expenses  from  the 
tribute  paid  by  Africa,  and  these  supplies  were  now  stopped. 
Also  they  found  themselves  destitute  of  arms  and  forces  ;  of 
all  necessary  preparations  either  for  sustaining  a  siege  or 
equipping  a  fleet ;  and,  to  complete  their  misfortunes,  withou 
any  hopes  of  foreign  assistance  either  from  friends  or  allies. 


THE   LIBYAN   WAR.  253 

In  some  degree,  they  might  impute  to  themselves  the  dis- 
tress to  which  they  were  reduced.  During  the  last  war,  they 
had  treated  the  natives  of  Africa  with  the  utmost  rigour,  by 
imposing  excessive  tributes  on  them,  and  exacting  them  even 
from  squalid  poverty.  Hence  no  great  efforts  were  needed  to 
prevail  upon  the  Africans  to  engage  in  this  rebellion.  It 
broke  out,  and  became  general,  at  the  very  first  signal  made. 
The  women,  who  had  often  seen  their  husbands  dragged  to 
prison  for  non-payment,  were  more  exasperated  than  the  men, 
and  cheerfully  gave  up  all  their  ornaments  towards  the  ex- 
penses of  the  war  ;  so  that  the  chiefs  of  the  rebels,  after  pay- 
ing all  they  had  promised  the  soldiers,  found  themselves  still 
in  the  midst  of  plenty.  An  instructive  lesson,  says  Polybius, 
to  rulers,  how  a  people  should  be  treated,  as  it  teaches  them 
to  look  not  only  to  the  present,  but  to  extend  their  views  to 
futurity. 

But'  notwithstanding  their  present  distress,  the  Carthagi- 
nians  did  not  despair.  They  made  the  most  extraordinary 
efforts  to  raise  an  army,  the  command  of  which  was  given  to 
Hanno.  Nor  were  the  rebels  less  active  in  their  exertions. 
Their  army  was  now  increased  to  70,000  men,  and,  after  de- 
tachments had  been  drawn  from  it  to  carry  on  the  sieges  of 
Utica  and  Hippacra,  they  pitched  their  camp  at  Tunis,  and 
thereby  held  Carthage  in  a  kind  of  blockade,  and  filled  it  with 
perpetual  alarms. 

Hanno  marched  to  the  relief  of  Utica,  and  gained  a  con- 
siderable advantage,  which,  had  he  made  a  proper  use  of  it, 
might  have  proved  decisive ;  but  entering  the  city,  and  only 
diverting  himself  there,  the  mercenaries,  who  had  retreated 
to  a  neighbouring  hill  covered  with  trees,  hearing  how  care- 
less the  enemy  were,  poured  down  upon  them,  took  and  plun- 
dered the  camp,  and  seized  upon  all  the  supplies  that  had  been 
brought  from  Carthage  for  the  relief  of  the  besieged.  Nor 
was  this  the  only  error  committed  by  Hanno,  and  therefore 
Hamilcar  was  appointed  to  succeed  him.  This  general  soon 
oblicred  the  rebels  to  raise  the  siege  of  Utica  ;  and  he  then 
marched  against  their  army,  which  was  encamped  near  Car- 
thage, defeated  part  of  it,  and  seized  almost  all  their  advanta- 
geous posts  ;  which  successes  revived  the  courage  of  the  Car- 
thaginians. 

A  young  Numidian  nobleman,  Naravasus  by  name,  who 
had  lately  arrived  to  the  aid  of  Carthage,  out  of  esteem  for 
Hamilcar,  with  2000  Numidians,  was  of  great  service  to  that 
general.     Animated  by  this  reinforcement,  he  fell  upon  the 

VOL.  n.  22    „ 


254  THE   LIBYAN   WAR. 

rebels,  who  had  enclosed  him  in  a  valley,  and  repulsed  them 
with  great  slaughter,  taking  4000  prisoners.  The  young 
Numidian  distinguished  himself  greatly  in  this  conflict. 
Hamilcar  took  into  his  troops. as  many  of  the  prisoners  as 
were  desirous  of  being  enlisted,  and  gave  the  rest  liberty  to 
go  wherever  they  pleased,  on  condition  that  they  should  not 
again  wage  war  against  the  Carthaginians ;  otherwise,  that 
every  one,  if  taken,  should  be  put  to  death ;  an  act  which 
proved  the  wisdom  of  that  general. 

Spendius,  fearing  that  this  affected  lenity  of  Hamilcar  might 
occasion  a  defection  among  his  troops,  thought  that  the  only 
expedient  left  him  to  prevent  it,  would  be  to  strike  some  sig- 
nal blow,  which  would  deprive  them  of  all  hopes  of  a  recon- 
ciliation. Accordingly,  after  having  read  some  fictitious 
letters,  by  which  advice  was  given  him  of  rescuing  Gisgo  and 
his  companions  from  prison,  he  brought  them  to  the  barba- 
rous resolution  of  putting  them  to  death.  Accordingly,  this 
unfortunate  general,  and  700  prisoners  who  were  confined 
with  him,  were  brought  to  the  front  of  the  camp,  and  there 
sacrificed  in  the  most  cruel  manner  that  revenge  could  devise. 
The  Carthaginians  sent  a  herald  to  demand  their  remains,  in 
order  to  inter  them,  but  they  were  refused ;  and  the  herald 
was  further  told,  that  whoever  came  again  upon  such  an  er- 
rand should  meet  with  Gisgo's  fate.  The  rebels,  indeed, 
came  to  the  resolution  of  treating  all  such  Carthaginians  as 
should  fall  into  their  hands  in  the  same  barbarous  manner ; 
and  they  decreed  further,  that  if  any  of  their  allies  were  taken, 
they  should,  after  their  hands  were  cut  off,  be  sent  back  to 
Carthage  ;  which  cruel  resolution  was  carried  into  effect  on 
all  the  prisoners  afterwards  taken. 

The  Carthaginians  were  just  beginning  to  recover  them- 
selves, when  they  were  plunged  again  into  fresh  dangers.  A 
division  arose  among  their  generals ;  the  provisions  which 
were  coming  to  them  by  sea,  and  of  which  they  were  in  ex- 
treme need,  were  cast  away  in  a  storm  ;  and  Utica  and  Hip- 
pacra,  the  only  cities  which  had  hitherto  maintained  their 
allegiance  inviolate,  revolted. 

Animated  by  these  circumstances,  the  rebels  laid  siege  to 
Carthage,  but  they  were  obliged  immediately  to  raise  it. 
They  continued  the  war,  however,  and  having  drawn  to- 
gether into  one  body  their  own  troops  and  those  of  the  allies, 
making  upwards  of  50,000  men,  they  watched  the  motions 
of  Hamilcar's  army,  but  kept  their  own  on  the  hills ;  care- 
fully avoiding  coming  down  into  the  plains,  as  they  feared 


THE   LIBYAN   WAR.  255 

the  enemy's  cavalry  and  elephants.  Hamilcar  never  exposed 
himself  to  any  of  their  attacks,  but,  taking  advantage  of  their 
oversights,  often  dispossessed  them  of  their  posts,  and  at  length 
surprised  them,  and  shut  them  up  in  a  post,  so  situated,  that 
it  was  impossible  for  them  to  escape.  Not  daring  to  venture 
a  battle,  they  fortified  their  camp,  and  surrounded  it  with 
ditches  and  entrenchments.  But  an  enemy  among  them- 
selves, and  which  was  much  more  formidable,  had  reduced 
them  to  the  greatest  extremity.  This  was  hunger,  which 
was  so  raging,  that  they  at  last  devoured  one  another  ;  Divine 
Providence,  says  Polybius,  thus  revenging  upon  themselves 
the  cruelty  they  had  exercised  on  others. 

The  rebels  had  now  no  resources  left,  and  they  knew  too 
well  the  punishments  which  would  be  inflicted  on  them  should 
they  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  After  such  cruelties 
as  they  had  committed,  they  at  first  did  not  dream  of  peace, 
or  of  proposing  an  accommodation.  In  the  mean  time,  the 
f:imine  increased  daily.  They  had  first  eaten  their  prisoners, 
then  their  slaves,  and  now  their  fellow-soldiers  only  were  left. 
Their  chiefs,  no  longer  able  to  resist  the  complaints  of  the 
multitude,  who  threatened  to  put  them  to  death  if  they  did  not 
surrender,  went  themselves  to  Hamilcar,  after  having  obtained 
a  safe  conduct  from  him.  The  conditions  of  the  treaty  were, 
that  the  Carthaginians  should  select  any  ten  of  the  rebels,  and 
treat  them  as  they  pleased,  and  that  the  rest  should  be  dis- 
missed with  only  one  suit  of  clothes  each.  When  the  treaty 
was  signed,  the  chiefs  themselves  Vv^ere  arrested  and  detained 
by  the  Carthaginians,  which  showed  their  peculiar  character- 
istic, namely,  a  lack  of  truth  and  sincerity.  The  rebels  hear- 
ing this,  and  knowing  nothing  of  the  convention,  suspected 
that  they  were  betrayed,  and  immediately  took  up  arms ;  but 
Hamilcar,  having  surrounded  them,  brought  forward  his  ele- 
phants, and  either  trod  them  under  foot,  or  slew  them  with 
the  sword,  to  the  number  of  more  than  40,000. 

The  immediate  result  of  this  victory  was,  the  reduction  of 
almost  all  the  cities  of  Africa,  which  returned  to  their  alle- 
giance. Hamilcar,  without  loss  of  time,  marched  against 
Tunis,  which  had  been,  since  the  commencement  of  the  war, 
the  asylum  of  the  rebels.  He  invested  it  on  one  side,  whilst 
Hannibal,  who  was  joined  in  the  command  with  him,  be- 
sieged it  on  the  other.  Then  advancing  near  the  walls,  and 
ordering  crosses  to  be  erected,  he  hung  Spendius  on  one  and 
his  companions  on  the  others,  where  they  all  expired.  Ma- 
tho,  the  other  chief,  who  commanded  in  Tunis,  saw  plainly 


S56  THE   LIBYAN  WAR. 

by  this  what  he  might  expect,  and  for  that  reason  was  very- 
attentive  to  his  defence.  Perceiving  that  Hannibal,  confident 
of  success,  was  negligent  in  all  his  motions,  he  attacked  him, 
killed  many  of  his  men,  took  several  prisoners,  amongst  whom 
was  Hannibal  himself,  and  plundered  his  camp.  Then  tak- 
ing Spendius  from  the  cross,  he  put  Hannibal  in  his  place, 
after  having  made  him  suffer  inexpressible  torments.  He 
also  sacrificed  round  the  body  of  Spendius  thirty  citizens  of 
the  first  quality  in  Carthage,  as  so  many  victims  of  his  ven- 
geance, as  though  there  had  been  a  mutual  emulation  be- 
tween the  contending  parties,  which  of  them  should  surpa>5S 
the  other  in  acts  of  cruelty.  But  such  is  ever  the  effect  of 
paganism ;  Christianity  alone  can  teach  mankind  true  hu- 
manity. 

Hamilcar,  being  then  at  a  distance,  it  was  long  before  the 
news  of  his  colleague's  misfortune  reached  him,  and  the  road 
lying  between  the  two  camps  being  impassable,  it  was  impos- 
sible for  him  to  advance  to  his  assistance.  At  Carthage,  the 
disaster  caused  great  consternation  ;  and  it  was  thought  ad- 
visable to  make  one  bold  effort.  Accordingly,  all  the  youth 
capable  of  bearing  arms  were  pressed  into  the  service.  Hfinno 
was  sent  to  join  Hamilcar,  and  thirty  senators  were  deputed 
to  conjure  those  generals  in  the  name  of  the  republic  to  for- 
get past  quarrels,  and  sacrifice  their  resentment  to  their  coun- 
try's welfare.  This  request  w^as  complied  with ;  they  em- 
braced, and  were  reconciled.  • 
The  Carthaginians  were  successful  in  all  their  undertak- 
ings from  this  time  ;  and  Matho,  who  in  every  attempt  after 
this  came  off  with  disadvantage,  at  length  was  obliged  to 
hazard  a  battle,  an  act  which  the  Carthaginians  desired.  The 
leaders  on  both  sides  animated  their  troops,  as  though  they 
were  going  to  fight  a  battle  which  would  for  ever  decide  their 
fate.  An  engagement  ensued,  and  victory  declared  itself  in 
favour  of  Carthage.  The  rebels  were  almost  all  slain,  and 
those  who  escaped  the  sword  were  taken  prisoners.  Matho 
was  taken  alive  and  carried  to  Carthage,  where  with  the  rest 
of  the  prisoners  he  was  executed.  All  Africa  returned  im- 
mediately to  its  allegiance,  except  the  two  cities  Utica  and 
Hippacra,  which  had  lately  revolted,  and  they  were  soon 
forced  to  surrender  at  discretion. 

Such  was  the  conclusion  of  the  war  (b.  c.  238,)  against  the 
mercenaries,  after  having  continued  three  years  and  four 
months.  "  It  furnished,"  says  Polybius,  "  an  ever  memora- 
ble lesson  to  the  natives,  not  to  employ  in  their  service  a 


AFFAIRS    IN   SARDINIA.  257 

greater  number  of  mercenaries  than  citizens,  nor  to  rely  for 
the  defence  of  their  state  on  a  body  of  men  who  are  united  to 
it  neither  by  interest  nor  affection."  A  more  important  lesson 
than  this  is,  however,  conveyed  to  nations  in  this  history.  It 
teaches  them,  not  to  hire  the  sword  to  destroy,  lest,  by  a  right- 
eous retribution,  it  be  afterwards  ordained  that  it  should  de- 
stroy themselves.  The  Psalmist  said,  "  Verily  he  is  a  God 
that  judgeth  in  the  earth,"  Psa.  Iviii.  11.  And  David's  Lord 
declared,  that  "  all  they  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish  with 
the  sword,"  Matt.  xxvi.  52. 

THE   AFFAIRS    OF   THE    CARTHAGINIANS    IN    SARDINIA. 

The  Carthaginians  suffered  other  disasters  from  the  revolt 
of  the  mercenaries.  Transactions  occurred  in  Sardinia  at  the 
same  time  which  were  in  a  great  measure  dependent  on,  and 
resulting  from  the  war  in  Africa.  They  exhibit,  also,  the 
same  violent  methods  to  promote  rebellion,  and  the  same  ex- 
cess of  cruelty ;  as  though  the  winds  of  heaven  had  carried 
the  spirit  of  discord  and  fury  from  the  one  country  to  the 
other. 

When  the  news  arrived  there  of  what  Matho  and  Spendius 
were  doing  in  Africa,  the  mercenaries  in  that  island  revoked. 
They  began  their  rebellion  by  the  murder  of  Bostar,  their 
general,  and  of  the  Carthaginians  under  him.  A  successor 
was  sent,  but  all  the  forces  which  he  carried  with  him  went 
over  to  the  rebels,  and  hung  their  general  on  a  cross. 
Throughout  the  whole  island,  the  Carthaginians  were  now- 
put  to  the  sword,  after  having  been  made  to  endure  much 
cruel  suffering.  The  rebels  then  besieged  all  the  cities,  one 
after  another,  and  obtained  possession  of  the  whole  country. 
Discord,  however,  arising  between  the  natives  and  the  merce- 
naries, the  latter  were  driven  out  of  the  island,  and  took  refuge 
in  Italy.  Thus  the  Carthaginians  lost  Sardinia,  which,  on 
account  of  its  extent  and  fertility,  was  of  great  importance  to 
them. 

Ever  since  the  treaty,  the  Romans  had  behaved  towards 
the  Carthaginians  with  great  justice  and  moderation.  A 
slight  breach  had  been  made  on  account  of  some  Roman 
merchants  who  were  seized  by  the  Carthaginians  for  having 
supplied  their  enemies  with  provisions ;  but  these  merchants 
being  restored  on  the  first  complaint  of  wrong,  the  Romans, 
who  prided  themselves  upon  their  justice  and  generosity, 
were  reconciled  to  the  Carthaginians.     They  served  them, 

22* 


258  THE    SECOND    PUNIC    WAR. 

indeed,  to  the  utmost  of  their  power ;  they  forbade  their  mer- 
chants to  furnish  any  other  nation  with  provisions  ;  and  even 
refused  to  listen  to  the  proposals  made  by  the  rebels  in  Sar- 
dinia, who  invited  them  to  take  possession  of  the  island. 

But  this  conduct  degenerated  by  degrees,  and  Cesar's  testi- 
mony to  their  honesty  and  plain  dealing  could  not,  with  pro- 
priety, be  applied  here.  "Although,"  said  he,  "in  all  the 
Punic  wars,  the  Carthaginians,  both  in  peace  and  during 
truces,  had  committed  a  number  of  detestable  actions,  the  Ro- 
mans could  never — how  inviting  soever  the  opportunity  might 
be — be  prevailed  upon  to  retaliate  such  usage,  being  more  at- 
tentive to  their  own  glory  than  to  the  revenge  they  might 
have  justly  taken  on  such  perfidious  enemies."  The  merce- 
naries, who,  as  we  have  seen,  retired  into  Italy,  brought  the 
Romans  to  the  resolution  of  sailing  into  Sardinia  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  island.  The  Carthaginians  were  deeply  afflicted 
at  this  news,  pretending  that  they  had  a  better  title  to  Sardinia 
than  the  Romans :  and  they  therefore  prepared  to  take  re- 
venge on  those  who  had  excited  the  people  of  that  island  to 
take  up  arms  against  them.  The  Romans  pretended  that 
these  preparations  w^ere  made,  not  against  Sardinia,  but 
Rome ;  and  they  therefore  declared  war  against  the  Cartha- 
ginians. But  the  latter,  exhausted  in  every  respect,  were  in 
no  condition  to  sustain  war,  and  they  were  forced  to  yield  to 
their  powerful  rival.  By  a  treaty,  to  which  necessity  com- 
pelled them  to  agree,  they  gave  up  Sardinia  to  the  Romans, 
and  obliged  themselves  to  a  new  payment  of  1200  talents. 
This  injustice  of  the  Romans,  however,  was  the  cause  of  the 
second  Punic  war,  as  related  in  the  next  portion  of  our 
narrative. 


THE    SECOND    PUNIC    WAR. 

The  second  Punic  war  which  commenced  218  years  b.  c, 
is  one  of  the  most  memorable  recorded  in  the  page  of  history ; 
if  we  consider  the  boldness  of  the  enterprises ;  the  skill  dis- 
played in  their  execution ;  the  obstinate  efforts  of  two  rival 
nations,  and  the. ready  resources  they  found  in  their  greatest 
misfortunes ;  the  variety  of  uncommon  events ;  and  the  in- 
structive lessons  that  occur  in  its  narrative,  concerning  war, 
policy,  government,  and,  above  all,  the  human  heart.  Never 
had  two  more  powerful,  or  at  least  more  warlike  states,  been 
opposed  to  each  other  ;  and  scarcely  ever  had  these  attained 
to  a  more  exalted  pitch  of  power  and  glory ;  Rome  and  Car- 


THE   SECOND   PUNIC    WAR.  259 

thag-e  at  that  time  were,  doubtless,  the  two  first  states  in  the 
world.  Having  already  tried  their  strength  in  the  first  Punic 
Avar,  and  thereby  made  an  essay  of  each  other's  power,  they 
knew  each  other's  strength ;  but  great  as  the  forces  of  these 
two  nations  were,  their  mutual  hatred  exceeded  it.  The  Ro- 
mans, on  one  side,  could  not  without  indignation  see  the  van- 
quished presuming  to  attack  them  ;  and  the  Carthaginians, 
on  the  other,  were  exasperated  at  the  rapacious  and  harsh 
treatment  which  they  imagined  they  had  received  from  the 
victor.  Their  ancient  enmity,  moreover,  excited  them  to  the 
fearful  conflict. 

Before  we  speak  of  the  declaration  of  war  betwixt  these 
two  powers,  it  is  necessary  to  explain  whence  it  arose,  and  to 
point  out  by  what  steps  the  rupture  was  so  long  preparing 
before  it  was  made  manifest.  That  man,  says  Polybius, 
would  be  mistaken,  who  should  look  upon  the  taking  of 
Saguntum  by  Hannibal  as  the  cause  of  the  second  Punic 
war.  The  regret  of  the  Carthaginians  for  having  so  tamely 
given  up  Sicily  by  the  treaty  which  terminated  the  first  Punic 
war ;  the  injustice  and  violence  of  the  Romans  in  dispossess- 
ing the  Carthaginians  of  Sardinia,  and  of  imposing  on  them 
a  new  tribute  when  they  were  in  difficulties  ;  and  the  success 
and  conquests  of  the  latter  in  Spain  ; — these  were  the  true 
causes  of  the  violation  of  the  treaty.  Hamilcar,  indeed,  was 
highly  exasperated  on  account  of  this  last  treaty,  to  which  the 
necessity  of  the  times  had  compelled  the  Carthaginians  to 
submit ;  and  he  meditated  the  design  of  breaking  it  on  the 
first  favourable  opportunity.  When  the  troubles  of  Africa 
were  appeased,  he  was  sent  upon  an  expedition  against  the 
Numidians,  in  which  giving  fresh  proofs  of  his  courage  and 
abilities,  his  merit  raised  him  to  the  command  of  the  army 
which  was  to  act  in  Spain,  237  b.  c.  Hannibal,  his  son,  at 
that  time  but  nine  years  of  age,  importuned  to  attend  him  on 
this  occasion,  for  which  purpose  he  employed  all  those  infan- 
tine arts  which  have  so  much  power  over  a  tender  parent. 
Hamilcar  could  not  refuse  him,  and  having  made  him  swear 
upon  the  altar  that  he  would  declare  himself  an  enemy  to  the 
Romans,  as  soon  as  age  would  allow  him  to  do  it,  he  took 
him  with  him. 

This  act,  to  a  Christian  reader,  may  appear  strange,  but  it 
was  a  common  practice  among  the  ancient  heathen,  and  seems 
to  have  been  considered  by  them  as  a  virtue.  Its  fatal  effects, 
however,  as  exhibited  to  us  in  the  narrative,  show  that  it  was 
one  of  their  darkest  deeds.     Besides,  to  the  humane,  there  is 


260  THE    SECOND   PUNIC   WAR. 

something"  fearful  in  the  thought  of  instilling  revenge  into  the 
breast  of  an  infant.  There  is  something  also  unjust  towards 
that  infant.  Why  should  a  parent,  who  loves  his  child  as  his 
own  soul,  seek  to  implant  that  principle  in  his  breast,  which 
has  been  his  own  torment,  and  probably  will  be  his  own  ruin? 
The  fearful  consequences  of  such  a  practice  are  discovered  in 
many  transactions  recorded  in  ancient  history.  Powerful 
families,  by  this  means,  have  been  divided  from  age  to  age, 
and  the  son  has  made  the  sword  of  his  sire  bright,  to  revenge 
his  quarrels,  till  destruction  has  fallen  upon  his  own  head. 

But  this  evil  is  not  confined  to  the  ancients ;  for  notwith- 
standing we  are  taught  by  the  ever  blessed  Jesus,  who  "spake 
as  never  man  spake,"  to  love  our  enemies,  there  are  those 
now  who  not  only  hate  their  enemies  themselves,  but  teach 
their  children  to  hate  them  and  their  descendants  also,  and 
thus  aim  to  perpetuate  their  quarrels  through  many  genera- 
tions. It  is  true,  that  evils  to  the  same  extent  do  not  follow 
the  moderns  as  they  did  the  ancients;  but  this  is,  in  many  in- 
stances, rather  the  effects  of  the  Avholesome  restraints  put  upon 
us  by  the  laws  of  our  country :  take  these  away,  and  the 
deadly  strife  in  which  ancient  families  were  involved,  will  be 
renewed  among  ourselves.  Human  nature  is  the  same  in 
all  countries,  and  in  all  ages  of  the  world  :  great  need  have 
we,  therefore  to  pray  for  the  saving  influences  of  God's  Holy 
Spirit,  that  we  may  sojourn  below  as  good  citizens  of  the 
world,  loving  and  beloved. 

We  proceed  with  our  narrative.  Hamilcar  possessed  all 
the  qualities  which  constitute  the  great  general,  according  to 
the  estimation  of  the  world.  To  an  invincible  courage,  and 
the  most  consummate  prudence,  he  added  an  engaging  and 
insinuating  behaviour.  In  a  very  short  time,  he  subdued  the 
greatest  part  of  the  nations  of  Spain,  either  by  the  terror  of 
his  arms,  or  his  engaging  conduct,  and  after  enjoying  the 
command  there  nine  years,  he  died  in  arms,  serving  the  cause 
of  his  country. 

The  Carthaginians  appointed  Asdrubal,  his  son-in-law,  to 
succeed  him.  This  general,  to  strengthen  himself  in  the 
country,  built  a  city,  which  became  very  considerable.  It 
was  called  New  Carthage,  and  is  at  this  day  known  by  the 
name  of  Carthagena. 

From  the  several  steps  of  these  two  generals,  it  was  easy  to 
perceive  that  they  were  meditating  some  great  design.  The 
Romans  were  sensible  of  this,  and  reproached  themselves  for 
their  indolence,  at  a  time  that  the  enemy  were  rapidly  pursu- 


THE    SECOND   PUNIC    WAR.  261 

ing  their  victories  in  Spain,  which  might  one  day  be  turned 
against  them.  They  would  have  been  very  glad  to  have 
stopped  their  career;  but  the  fear  of  another  enemy,  the 
Gauls,  whom  they  expected  to  see  very  shortly  at  their  very 
gates,  prevented  their  taking  any  such  measures.  They, 
therefore,  had  recourse  to  negociations,  and  concluded  a  treaty 
with  Asdrubal,  in  which,  without  taking  any  notice  of  the 
rest  of  Spain,  they  contented  themselves  with  introducing  an 
article  by  which  the  Carthaginians  were  not  permitted  to  ex- 
tend their  conquests  beyond  the  Iberus. 

Asdrubal,  in  the  mean  time,  still  pushed  on  his  conquests ; 
taking  care,  however,  not  to  pass  beyond  the  stipulated  limits : 
but  by  a  courteous  and  engaging  behaviour,  he  won  over  the 
chiefs  of  the  several  nations,  and  furthered  the  interests  of 
Carthage  more  than  he  could  have  done  by  the  force  of  arms. 
But  Asdrubal,  after  having  governed  Spain  eight  years,  was 
treacherously  murdered  by  a  Gaul,  who  took  this  revenge 
upon  him,  because  his  master  had  fallen  by  the  hand  of  that 
general. 

Three  years  before  his  death,  he  had  written  to  Carthage 
to  desire  that  Hannibal,  then  twenty-two  years  of  age,  might 
be  sent  to  him.  To  this  request  (after  much  opposition  from 
Hanno,  one  of  the  senators,  who  represented  that  Hannibal, 
being  so  ambitious  and  so  young  a  man,  should  still  be  kept 
under  the  eye  of  the  magistrates,  that  he  might  learn  obedience 
and  modesty)  the  Carthaginians  acceded.  Hannibal,  accord- 
ingly, set  sail  for  Spain,  and  immediately  on  his  arrival  there, 
he  drew  upon  himself  the  attention  of  the  whole  army,  who 
flmcied  they  saw  Hamilcar  his  father  revive  in  him.  He 
seemed  to  dart  the  same  fire  from  his  eyes  ;  the  same  martial 
figure  displayed  itself  in  his  form  ;  and  he  possessed  the  same 
features  and  engaging  carriage.  But  his  personal  qualities 
endeared  him  still  more.  He  possessed  almost  every  talent 
that  constitutes  the  great  man.  His  patience  in  labour  was 
invincible,  his  temperance  surprising,  his  courage  in  the 
greatest  dangers  undaunted,  and  his  presence  of  mind  in  the 
heat  of  t>attle  wonderful:  and  a  still  more  wonderful  circum- 
stance, his  disposition  was  so  flexible,  that  nature  had  formed 
him  equally  for  commanding  or  obeying  ;  so  that  it  was  doubt- 
ful whether  he  was  dearer  to  the  soldiers  or  the  generaJs. 

Hannibal  served  three  campaigns  under  Asdrubal ;  and 
upon  the  death  of  that  general,  the  suffrages  of  both  the  army 
and  the  people  concurred  in  raising  him  to  the  supreme  com- 
mand.    The  moment  he  was  created  general,  true  to  his  un 


262  THE    SECOND   PUNIC    WAR. 

hallowed  vow,  he  turned  secretly  his  whole  mind  upon  war 
with  Rome,  and  the  means  of  obtaining  possession  of  Italy. 
In  Spain,  he  captured  several  towns,  and  conquered  many 
nations.  But  he  still  forbore  laying  siege  to  Saguntum,  care- 
fully avoiding  giving  offence  to  the  Romans,  till  he  should 
have  taken  every  step  which  he  judged  necessary  for  so  im- 
portant an  enterprise.  He  applied  himself  particularly  to  en- 
gage the  affections  of  the  citizens  and  allies,  and  to  gain  their 
confidence,  by  allotting  them  a  large  share  of  the  plunder 
taken  from  the  enemy,  and  by  scrupulously  paying  them  all 
their  arrears. 

The  Saguntines,  on  their  side,  sensible  of  the  danger  with 
which  they  were  threatened,  informed  the  Romans  of  the 
progress  of  Hannibal's  conquests.  Upon  this,  deputies  were 
nominated  by  the  latter,  and  ordered  to  go  and  acquaint  them- 
selves with  the  state  of  affairs  upon  the  spot ;  they  commanded 
them,  also,  to  lay  their  complaints  before  Hannibal,  if  it  should 
be  thought  proper  ;  and  in  case  he  should  refuse  to  do  justice, 
that  they  should  go  directly  to  Carthage,  and  make  the  same 
complaints. 

In  the  mean  time,  Hannibal,  foreseeing  the  great  advan- 
tages which  would  accrue  from  the  taking  of  Saguntum,  laid 
siege  to  that  city.  He  was  persuaded  that  this  would  deprive 
the  Romans  of  all  hopes  of  carrying  on  the  war  in  Spain ; 
that  this  new  conquest  would  secure  those  already  made ;  that 
as  no  enemy  would  be  left  behind  him,  his  march  would  be 
unmolested ;  that  he  should  find  money  enough  in  the  city 
for  the  execution  of  his  designs ;  that  the  plunder  of  the  city 
would  inspire  his  soldiers  Avith  greater  cheerfulness ;  and  that 
the  spoils  which  he  should  send  to  Carthage  would  gain  him 
the  favour  of  the  citizens.  Animated  by  these  motives,  he 
carried  on  the  siege  with  vigour ;  he  set  an  example  to  his 
troops,  was  present  at  all  the  works,  and  exposed  himself  to 
the  greatest  dangers. 

It  was  soon  told  at  Rome  that  Saguntum  was  besieged ;  but 
the  Romans,  instead  of  hastening  to  its  relief,  lost  their  time 
in  fruitless  debates  and  deputations.  Hannibal  sent  word  to 
the  Roman  deputies,  that  he  was  not  at  leisure  to  hear  them ; 
they  therefore  repaired  to  Carthage,  but  met  with  no  better 
reception :  the  complaints  of  the  Romans,  and  the  remon- 
strances of  Hanno,  who  advocated  peace,  were  alike  un- 
heeded. 

During  all  the  voyages  and  negociations,  the  siege  was 
pursued  with  vigour ;  and  the  Saguntines  were  now  reduced 


THE    SECOND   PUNIC    WAR.  263 

to  the  last  extremity.  An  accommodation  was  at  length  pro- 
posed ;  but  the  conditions  on  which  it  was  offered  appeared 
so  harsh,  that  the  besieged  could  not  accept  them.  Before 
they  gave  their  final  answer,  the  principal  senators,  bringing 
their  gold  and  silver,  and  that  of  the  public  treasury,  into  the 
market-place,  threw  both  into  the  fire  lighted  for  that  purpose, 
and  afterwards  rushed  headlong  into  it  themselves.  At  the 
same  time,  a  tower,  which  had  been  long  assaulted  by  the 
battering-ram,  falling  with  a  dreadful  noise,  the  Carthaginians 
entered  the  city  by  the  breach,  made  themselves  masters  of  it, 
and  slew  all  the  inhabitants  who  were  of  age  to  bear  arms. 
The  Carthaginians  obtained  a  very  great  booty.  Hannibal, 
however,  did  not  reserve  to  himself  any  part  of  the  spoils,  but 
applied  them  solely  to  the  carrying  on  his  enterprises.  Poly- 
bius  observes,  that  the  capture  of  Saguntum  was  of  service 
to  Hannibal,  as  it  awakened  the  ardour  of  his  soldiers,  and 
reconciled  all  Carthage  to  him,  by  the  large  presents  he  made 
to  the  state  out  of  the  spoils.  Saguntum  was  taken  219 
years  b.  c. 

When  the  news  reached  Rome,  the  greatest  grief  and  con- 
sternation prevailed  among  its  inhabitants.  Compassion  for 
its  fate  ;  shame  for  having  failed  to  succour  such  faithful  al- 
lies ;  indignation  against  the  Carthaginians,  the  authors  of 
these  calamities  ;  a  strong  alarm,  raised  by  the  successes  of 
Hannibal,  whom  the  Romans  fancied  as  already  at  their  gates; 
— all  these  sentiments  caused  so  violent  an  emotion,  that,  dur- 
ing the  fii-st  moments  of  their  agitation,  the  Romans  were 
unable  to  come  to  any  resolution.  They  gave  way  to  the 
torrent  of  their  passion,  and  shed  tears  for  the  fate  of  a  city 
which  fell  a  victim  to  its  inviolable  fidelity  to  them,  and  had 
been  betrayed  by  their  own  indolence.  But  when  they  were 
a  little  recovered,  an  assembly  of  the  people  was  called,  and 
war  was  decreed  unanimously  against  the  Carthaginians. 

That  no  ceremony  might  be  wanting,  deputies  were  sent 
to  Carthage,  to  inquire  whether  Saguntum  had  been  besieged 
by  the  order  of  the  republic,  and  if  so,  to  declare  war  ;  or,  in 
case  the  siege  had  been  undertaken  solely  by  the  authority 
of  Hannibal,  to  require  that  he  should  be  delivered  up  to  the 
power  of  the  Romans.  The  deputies,  perceiving  that  the 
senate  gave  no  direct  answer  to  their  interrogatories,  one  of 
them,  taking  up  the  folded  lappet  of  his  robe,  "I  bring  here," 
said  he,  in  a  haughty  tone,  "  either  peace  or  war ;  the  choice 
is  left  to  yourselves."  The  senate  answered,  that  they  left 
the  choice  to  him :  "  I  give  you  war,  then,"  said  he,  unfolding 


264  THE   SECOND   PUNIC   WAR. 

his  robe.  "  And  we,"  replied  the  Carthaginians,  with  the 
same  haughtiness,  "  as  heartily  accept  it,  and  are  resolved  to 
prosecute  it  with  the  same  cheerfulness." 

Thus  lightly  could  the  ancient  heathen  speak  of  an  event 
which  would  bring  the  utmost  misery  upon  thousands,  and 
cause  all  of  both  nations  to  suffer ;  for  all  suffer,  even  in  a 
successful  war;  the  victor  and  the  vanquished  taste  alike  of 
its  bitter  fruits.  Would  that  many,  calling  themselves  Chris- 
tians, did  not  speak  as  lightly  of  warfare,  with  all  its  calami- 
ties !  But  there  are  those,  even  in  Christendom,  who  speak 
lightly  of  war,  who  only  think  of  the  glitter  and  the  pomp 
that  attend  it,  but  who  forget  the  innumerable  evils,  public 
and  private,  which  it  inflicts  on  families  and  nations,  whether 
successful  or  unsuccessful.  But  there  will  come  a  day,  when 
all  these  false  disguises  shall  be  laid  aside,  when  man  will 
respect  the  rights  and  life  of  his  fellow  man,  though  he  may 
meet  with  him  in  the  wilds  of  Africa  ;  when  all  mankind  shall 
look  upon  each  other  as  brothers,  as  members  of  one  family, 
whose  Creator  and  Father  is  God.  Thus  it  will  be  when 
Christ  shall  reign,  as  we  know  from  prophecy  he  will,  in  and 
over  the  hearts  of  men  ;  when  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord 
shall  spread  over  the  earth,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sands  of 
the  ocean. 

This  war  was  proclaimed  218  years  b.  c,  and  it  continued 
during  the  seventeen  succeeding  years.  When  it  was  re- 
solved upon,  Flannibal,  before  he  discovered  his  design, 
thought  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  provide  for  the  security 
of  Spain  and  Africa.  With  this  view,  he  removed  the  forces 
out  of  the  one  into  the  other,  so  that  the  Africans  served  in 
Spain,  and  the  Spaniards  in  Africa.  He  was  prompted  to 
this,  from  a  persuasion,  that  each  army  being  at  a  distance 
from  their  respective  countries,  would  be  fitter  for  service,  and 
more  firmly  attached  to  him,  as  they  would  be  hostages  for 
each  others'  fidelity.  The  forces  which  he  left  in  Africa 
amounted  to  about  40,000  men,  and  those  in  Spain  to  about 
15,000.  The  command  of  the  Spanish  forces  was  given  to 
his  brother  Asdrubal,  wdth  a  fleet  of  about  sixty  ships  to  guard 
the  coasts. 

Livy  observes,  that  Hannibal,  before  he  set  forward  on  this 
expedition,  went  to  Cadiz  to  discharge  some  vows  which  he 
had  made  to  Hercules ;  and  that  he  engaged  himself  by  new 
ones,  in  order  to  obtain  success  in  the  war  upon  which  he 
was  entering ;  a  practice  very  common  among  the  ancient 
heathens.     Polybius  gives  us  a  clear  idea  of  the  distance  of 


THE   SECOND   PlTNIC   WAR.  265 

the  several  places  through  which  Hannihal  was  to  march  on 
his  way  to  Italy.  From  New  Carthage,  whence  he  set  out, 
to  the  Iberus,  2600  furlongs.  From  the  Iberus  to  Emporium, 
a  small  maritime  town,  which  separated  Spain  from  the  Gauls, 
according  to  Strabo,  were  1600  furlongs.  From  Emporium 
to  the  pass  of  the  Rhone,  the  like  space  of  1600  furlongs. 
From  the  pass  of  the  Rhone  to  the  Alps,  1400.  From  the 
Alps  to  the  plains  of  Italy,  1200  furlongs.  Thus  from  New 
Carthage  to  the  plains  of  Italy  were  8400  furlongs ;  or,  al- 
lowing 625  feet  to  the  furlong,  944  English  miles,  and  almost 
one-third. 

This  celebrated  march  of  Hannibal's  is  one  of  the  most 
important  and  interesting  events  recorded  in  the  page  of  his- 
tory, if  we  consider  the  greatness  of  its  design,  its  boldness, 
and  its  difficulty,  the  comprehension  and  mental  energy  dis- 
played in  its  plan  and  execution,  and  its  final  consequences. 
Accordingly,  from  the  days  of  Polybius  to  the  present  hour, 
it  has  been  the  theme  of  praise,  and  the  subject  of  wonder 
and  admiration.  The  classical  student  is  absorbed  in  his 
earliest  career  in  its  contemplation,  and  perhaps  there  is 
scarcely  a  reader  who  peruses  the  story,  but  notwithstanding 
it  exhibits  a  thirst  for  revenge  at  which  humanity  shudders, 
feels  much  delight.  In  fancy  he  accompanies  the  warrior — 
attends  his  every  step — shares  and  sighs  over  his  dangers — 
climbs  with  him  the  Alpine  steeps — gazes  on  their  perpetual 
snov\^,  and  scales  their  rugged  summits — views  in  the  dis- 
tance the  fertile  plains  of  the  Po,  and  the  direction  of  Rome 
— and  finally  descends  with  him  from  the  lofty  summits,  treads 
the  verdant  fields,  and  enjoys  the  balmy  air  of  Italy. 

Hannibal  commenced  his  march  late  in  the  spring.  ,  His 
army  then  consisted  (5f  about  100,000  men,  of  which  12,000 
were  cavalry;  he  had  also  about  forty  elephants.  Having 
crossed  the  Iberus,  he  soon  subdued  the  several  nations  which 
opposed  him  in  his  march ;  but  he  lost  a  considerable  part  of 
his  army.  He  left  Hanno  to  comipand  all  the  country  lying 
between  the  Iberus  and  the  Pyrenean  hills,  with  11,000  men, 
who  were  appointed  to  guard  the  baggage  of  those  that  were 
to  follow  him.  He  dismissed  a  similar  number,  sending  them 
back  to  their  respective  countries ;  thus  securing  to  himself 
their  affection  when  he  should  want  recruits ;  and  offering  to 
the  rest  a  hope  that  they  should  be  allowed  to  return  when- 
ever they  should  desire  it.  He  passed  the  Pyrenean  hills, 
and  advanced  as  far  as  the  banks  of  the  Rhone,  at  the  head 
of  50,000  foot  and  9000  horse. 

VOL  n,  23 


266  THE   SECOND    PUNIC    WAR. 

Being  arrived  within  about  four  days'  march  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Rhone,  Hannibal  attempted  to  cross  it,  because 
the  river  in  this  place  took  up  only  the  breadth  of  its  chan- 
nel. He  bought  up  all  the  ships,  boats,  and  small  vessels  he 
could  meet  with,  of  which  the  inhabitants,  being  commercial, 
had  a  great  number ;  he  likewise  built  a  number  of  boats, 
vessels,  and  rafts.  On  his  arrival,  he  found  the  Gauls  en- 
camped on  the  opposite  bank,  and  prepared  to  dispute  the 
passage.  There  was  no  possibility  of  attacking  them  in  front, 
and,  therefore,  he  ordered  a  considerable  detachment  of  his 
forces,  under  the  command  of  Hanno,  the  son  of  Bomilcar, 
to  pass  the  river  higher  up ;  and,  in  order  to  conceal  his 
march  and  the  design  he  had  in  view  from  the  enemy,  he 
obliged  them  to  set  out  in  the  night.  All  things  succeeded 
as  he  wished,  and  they  passed  the  river  the  next  day  without 
opposition. 

They  passed  the  rest  of  the  day  in  refreshing  themselves, 
and  in  the  night  advanced  silently  towards  the  enemy.  In 
the  morning,  when  the  signals  agreed  upon  had  been  given, 
Hannibal  prepared  to  attempt  the  passage.  Part  of  his  horses, 
completely  accoutred,  were  put  into  boats,  that  their  riders 
might  on  landing,  immediately  charge  the  enemy.  The  rest 
of  the  horses  swam  over  on  both  sides  of  the  boats,  from 
which  one  man  held  the  bridles  of  three  or  four.  The  in- 
fantry crossed  the  river,  either  on  rafts,  or  in  small  boats,  and 
in  a  kind  of  gondolas,  or  trunks  of  trees  made  hollow.  The 
great  boats  were  drawn  up  in  a  line  at  the  top  of  the  channel, 
in  order  to  break  the  force  of  the  waves,  and  facilitate  the 
passage  of  the  rest  of  the  small  fleet.  When  the  Gauls  saw 
it  advancing  on  the  river,  they,  according  to  their  custom, 
uttered  dreadful  cries  and  bowlings;  and  clashing  their  buck- 
lers over  their  heads,  one  against  the  other,  let  fly  a  shower 
of  darts.  But  they  were  greatly  astonished,  when  they  heard 
a  noise  behind  them,  perceived  their  tents  on  fire,  and  saw 
themselves  attacked  both  in  front  and  rear.  They  had  no 
means  of  escape  but  by  flight,  and  they,  accordingly,  retreated 
to  their  respective  villages.  After  this,  the  rest  of' the  troops 
crossed  the  river  without  molestation. 

The  elephants  occasioned  much  trouble.  They  were  sent 
over  the  next  day  in  the  following  manner : — From  the  bank 
of  the  river  was  thrown  a  raft,  200  feet  in  length,  and  fifty 
in  breadth.  This  was  fixed  strongly  to  the  banks  by  large 
ropes,  and  covered  over  with  earth,  so  that  the  elephants,  de- 
ceived by  its  appearance,  thought  themselves  upon  firm  ground. 


THE   SECOND   PUNIC   WAR.  267 

From  this  raft  they  proceeded  to  a  second,  which  was  huilt  in 
the  same  form,  but  only  100  feet  long,  and  fastened  to  the  for- 
mer by  chains  that  were  easily  loosened.  The  female  ele- 
phants were  put  upon  the  first  raft,  and  the  males  folloAved 
after ;  and  when  they  were  placed  upon  the  second  raft,  it 
was  loosened  from  the  first,  and  by  the  help  of  small  boats 
towed  to  the  opposite  shore. 

At  what  part  of  the  Rhone  this  passage  was  made,  has 
been  a  matter  of  dispute  for  many  ages,  among  those  inter- 
ested in  the  subject  From  recent  researches,  however,  it  is 
clearly  shown,  that  it  was  at  the  modern  town  of  Roque- 
maure. 

The  arguments  in  support  of  this  fact  are  briefly  these: — 
From  the  point  where  Hannibal  crossed  the  Rhone,  to  the 
commencement  of  the  ascent  of  the  Alps,  is  reckoned  by  Poly- 
bius  to  be  1400  stadia,  or  175  Roman  miles.  Of  this  space 
800  stadia  are  assigned  as  the  distance,  from  the  Neros  or 
Peninsula  to  the  ascent ;  leaving  600  stadia  from  the  passage 
of  the  river  to  the  Insula  Allobrogum,  or  Neros  just  men- 
tioned. Now,  Roquemaure  is  exactly  this  distance  from  Port 
L'Isere  where  the  Insula  Allobrogum  begins.  Again,  Poly- 
bius  has  assigned  a  distance  of  four  marches  up  the  river  to 
where  Hannibal  crossed  it,  and  if  we  estimate  a  day's  march 
at  fifteen  miles,  as  was  usual  in  ancient  times,  this  would 
give  sixty  miles  from  the  embouchure  of  the  river,  and  Ro- 
quemaure is  sixty-four  miles  distance  from  the  sea.  This 
difference  is  not  much  when  we  recollect,  that  the  Rhone  is 
the  most  rapid  river  in  Europe,  having  a  descent  of  1200  Eng- 
lish feet  from  the  Leman  Lake,  being  six  feet  of  average  de- 
scent per  mile,  on  a  horizontal  line  of  200  English  miles. 
From  this  cause,  it  must  have  brought  down  with  its  rapid 
current  such  a  quantity  of  debris,  as  must  have  added,  during 
the  space  of  2000  years  which  has  intervened,  considerably 
to  the  land  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  Another  circumstance 
that  favours  the  supposition  that  Hannibal  crossed  the  river 
at  Roquemaure,  is,  that  the  Rhone  is  thickly  studded  with 
islands  ;  the  channel,  therefore,  is  consequently  broad,  and  the 
rapidity  and  force  of  the  current  diminished  and  broken ; 
whereas  from  Daderouse  to  Roquemaure,  a  distance  of  three 
miles,  the  river  flows  in  one  unbroken  current,  and  is  unford- 
able.  This  is  more  particularly  the  case  at  Roquemaure,  and 
Hannibal,  says  Polybius,  made  a  passage  across  the  stream, 
where  it  flowed  in  one  collected  and  unbroken  current,  and 
where  it  was  unfordable  from  its  depth.     Again,  the  position 


268  THE   SECOND   PTJNIC    WAR. 

of  Roquemaure  was  very  favourable  to  Hannibal's  plan  of 
leaving  the  sea  behind.  To  have  attempted  a  passage  below 
the  confluence  of  the  Durance  with  the  Rhone,  would  have 
been  dangerous  at  all  times,  and  impracticable  when  the  Du- 
rance was  swollen  by  the  melting  snoAVs:  besides,  had  he 
crossed  below  the  junction  of  these  two  streams,  he  could  not 
have  been  four  days'  march  from  the  sea;  and  had  he  crossed 
above  Roquemaure,  he  could  scarcely  have  found  one  collected 
stream,  and  the  distance  to  the  Insula  Allobrogum  would  not 
have  been  600  stadia.  A  final  proof  that  Hannibal  crossed 
the  Rhone  at  Roquemaure,  is  deduced  from  the  coincidence 
of  the  distance  from  Emporium,  or  Ampurias,  which  Poly- 
bins  states  to  be  1600  stadia,  or  200  Roman  miles.  The  dis- 
tance from  Emporium  to  Nemauses  at  Nismes  is  176  Roman 
miles,  and  from  thence  to  Roquemaure  is  twenty-eight  more, 
making  a  total  of  204  miles. 

We  return  to  our  narrative.  The  two  Roman  consuls  had, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  spring,  set  out  ibr  their  respective  pro- 
vinces ;  P,  Scipio  for  Spain,  with  sixty  ships,  two  Roman  le- 
gions, 14,000  foot,  and  1200  horse  of  the  allies  ;  Tiberius  Sem- 
pronius  for  Sicily  with  160  ships,  two  legions,  16,000  foot, 
and  1800  horse  of  the  allies.  The  Roman  legion  consisted 
at  that  time  of  4000  foot,  and  300  horse.  Sempronius  had 
made  extraordinary  preparations  at  Lilybeum,  a  seaport  town 
in  Sicily,  with  the  design  of  crossing  over  directly  into  Africa, 
Scipio  was  equally  confident  that  he  should  find  Hannibal 
still  in  Spain,  and  make  that  country  the  seat  of  war ;  he  was 
greatly  astonished,  therefore,  when,  on  his  arrival  at  Marseilles, 
a  sea-port  and  a  city  in  France,  advice  was  brought  him 
that  Hannibal  was  upon  the  banks  of  the  Rhone,  and  prepar- 
ing to  cross  it.  He  then  detached  300  horse  to  view  the  pos- 
ture of  the  enemy ;  and  Hannibal  detached  510  Numidian 
horse  for  the  same  purpose,  during  which  some  of  his  sol- 
diers were  employed  in  bringing  over  the  elephants. 

At  the  same  time,  Hannibal  gave  audience,  in  the  presence 
of  his  whole  army,  to  one  of  the  princes  of  that  part  of  Gaul 
which  is  situated  near  the  Po,  who  assured  him,  by  an  inter- 
preter, in  the  name  of  his  subjects,  that  his  arrival  was  looked 
for,  and  that  the  Gauls  were  ready  to  join  him,  and  march 
against  the  Romans  :  he  himself  offered  to  conduct  the  army 
through  places  where  they  should  meet  with  a  plentiful  supply 
of  provisions.  When  this  prince  had  retired,  Hannibal,  in  a 
speech  to  his  tooops,  magnified  this  deputation  from  the 
Gauls,  extolled  the   bravery  which  his   forces  had   shown 


THE   SECOND   PUNIC   WAR,  269 

hitherto,  and  exhorted  them  to  sustain  their  reputation  and 
glory.  The  soldiers,  inspired  with  fresh  ardour  and  courage, 
declared  their  readiness  to  follow  whithersoever  he  pleased 
to  lead  them.  Accordingly,  he  appointed  the  next  day  for 
his  march  ;  and,  after  offering  up  vows,  and  making  suppli- 
cations to  the  gods  for  the  safety  of  his  troops,  he  dismissed 
them,  desiring  at  the  same  time  that  they  would  take  the  ne- 
cessary refreshments. 

Whilst  this  occurred,  the  Numidians  returned.  They  had 
met  with,  and  charged  the  Roman  detachment.  The  conflict 
was  very  obstinate,  and  the  slaughter  great,  considering  the 
small  number  of  the  combatants ;  160  of  the  Romans  were 
slain,  and  more  than  2u0  of  their  enemies.  But  the  honour 
of  the  skirmish  fell  to  the  Romans  ;  the  Numidians  having 
retired  and  left  them  the  field  of  battle.  This  action  was  in- 
terpreted as  an  omen  of  the  fate  of  the  whole  war,  as  promis- 
ing final  success,  after  a  fearful  struggle,  to  the  Romans.  It 
may,  in  fact,  be  said  to  have  shown  the  genius  and  spirit  of 
the  two  nations ;  the  Africans  the  most  impetuous,  the  Ro- 
mans the  most  persevering ;  both  courageous,  and  rendered 
fierce  by  mutual  hatred.  On  both  sides,  those  who  had  sur- 
vived this  engagement,  returned  to  inform  their  respective 
generals  of  what  they  had  discovered. 

Hannibal,  as  he  had  designed,  decamped  the  nfjjct  day,  and 
crossed  thrc^ugh  the  midst  of  Gaul,  advancing  northward  ;  not 
that  this  was  the  nearest  way,  but,  as  it  led  from  the  sea,  it 
prevented  a  meeting  with  Scipio,  and  by  that  means  favoured 
the  design  he  had  of  marching  all  his  forces  into  Italy,  with- 
out having  them  weakened  by  a  battle. 

Though  Scipio  marched  with  the  utmost  expedition,  he 
did  not  reach  the  place  where  Hannibal  had  passed  the 
Rhone  till  three  days  after  his  departure.  Despairing,  there- 
fore of  overtaking  him,  he  re-embarked  his  troops,  resolving 
to  wait  for  Hannibal  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps.  But  in  order 
that  he  might  not  leave  Spain  defenceless,  he  sent  his  brother 
Cneius  thither,  with  the  greatest  part  of  his  army,  to  oppose 
Asdrubal ;  and  he  set  forward  immediately  for  Genoa, 
intending  to  oppose  the  army  which  was  in  Gaul,  near  the 
Po,  to  that  of  Hannibal. 

In  four  days  from  the  commencement  of  his  march,  Han- 
nibal, after  crossing  the  Rhone  at  Roquemaure,  reached  the 
Neros,  or  Insula  Allobrogum,  at  the  Port  LTsere.  At  this 
place,  he  found  two  brothers  contending  for  the  sovereignty. 
The  arrival  of  Hannibal  was  a  happy  circumstance  for  the 

23* 


270  THE   SECOND   PUNIC   WAR. 

elder  brother,  for  he  reinstated  him  in  his  dominions.  Hari- 
nibal  also  profited  by  this  event ;  for,  grateful  for  such  assis- 
tance, the  barbarian  supplied  his  army  with  every  necessary, 
whether  of  clothing  or  provision,  to  enable  them  to  cross  the 
Alps :  he  even  attended  it  in  person,  as  an  escort,  and  covered 
their  rear  from  the  attacks  of  the  Allobroges,  (who,  however, 
kept  at  some  distance,)  till  Hannibal  had  reached  the  foot  of 
the  Alps,  whither  in  ten  days  he  arrived, 

Hannibal  encamped  at  Chelvelu,  or  Lavisca,  the  very  en- 
trance of  the  pass  over  the  Mont  du  Chat,  ninety-eight  miles 
distant  from  Port  L'Isere.  This  pass  is  much  lower  than  any 
other  part  of  the  mountain,  and  the  very  place  through  which 
alone  an  army  could  pass. 

From  Chevelu  to  the  summit  is  two  miles  of  ascent,  where 
there  is  an  esplanade  of  300  yards  square.  The  ascent  is 
easy,  and  over  it  the  Austrian  army  passed,  with  all  their  bag- 
gage and  artillery  in  1815.  Here  Hannibal  found  the 
enemy  posted,  but  discovering  by  his  guides  and  scouts  that 
they  retired  from  thence  in  the  night  and  returned  at  dawn 
of  day,  he  occupied  the  pass  during  the  night  with  his  hght 
troops,  which,  when  the  Allobroges  saw  in  the  morning,  they 
desisted  at  first  from  making  any  opposition,  and  the  army 
commenced  their  way  through  the  defile.  But  the  road  was 
rough  and^tony,  and  the  horses  and  beasts  of  burden  could 
with  difficulty  keep  their  feet.  This  the  Allobroges  foresaw 
would  be  the  case,  and  therefore  they  made  a  furious  charge 
upon  Hannibal  from  the  adjacent  heights.  They  were,  how- 
ever, soon  repulsed  by  Hannibal  and  the  light  troops  down 
a  sloping  side  of  the  eminence,  which  they  had  seized  during 
the  preceding  night.  Hannibal  followed  up  his  success, 
and  stormed  their  chief  town,  Bourget,  where  he  found  a 
valuable  supply  of  horses,  cattle,  provisions,  and  beasts  of 
burden. 

After  the  capture  of  this  town,  the  army  halted  a  day,  and 
then  entered  the  fertile  plain  of  Chambery.  From  this  city, 
the  road  proceeds  to  Montmelian  and  the  valley  of  the  Isere, 
along  which,  till  the  fourth  day,  the  army  passed  unmolested. 
At  the  end,  however,  of  six  days,  on  entering  a  difficult  and 
precipitous  defile,  they  were  suddenly  attacked  by  the  very 
people  who  had  professed  great  friendship  to  Hannibal,  \vho 
had  taken  several  of  them  as  his  guides  during  the  two  pre- 
ceding days.  With  some  difficuky,  and  great  loss,  Hanni- 
bal repulsed  these  treacherous  Gauls,  and  he  passed  the  night 
on  a  strong  white  rock.     The  next  morning,  the  seventh  day 


THE    SECOND   PUNIC   WAR.  271 

from  the  capture  of  Bourget,  and  the  ninth  from  the  passage 
of  the  Mont  du  Chat,  he  led  his  army  to  the  summit  of  the 
highest  ridge  of  the  Alps. 

The  place  where  Hannibal  was  attacked,  is  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  village  and  plain  of  Seez,  a  short  distance  to  the  west 
of  the  Petit  or  Little  St.  Bernard.  This  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that,  from  Seez,  the  passage  of  the  Little  St.  Bernard  appears 
so  directly  in  front  as  not  to  be  mistaken.  On  both  sides  of 
the  road  from  Seez  thither,  the  mountains  are  lofty,  steep,  and 
covered  with  snow,  while  the  pass  of  the  Little  St.  Bernard 
presents  itself  beneath ;  the  attack  was  consequently  made 
from  the  lofty  heights  lining  this  defile.  From  the  foot  of  the 
St.  Bernard  descends  an  Alpine  torrent  called  the  Reclus, 
which  passes  by  the  village  of  Seez.  This  torrent  is  very 
often  dry,  and  on  its  left  bank  stands  a  white  rock  of  gypsum, 
to  which  the  name  of  La  Roche  Blanche,  or.  The  White 
Rock,  has  been  universally  given.  This  is  the  identical  rock 
on  which  Hannibal  passed  the  night,  to  cover  the  passage  of 
his  army.  This  rock  is  admirably  calculated  for  defensive 
operations.  It  commands  the  whole  plain  of  Seez,  and  would 
have  enabled  Hannibal  to  act  equally  against  the  enemy  on 
the  heights  above  St.  Germains,  and  on  both  sides  of  the  line 
of  the  old  Roman  road.  From  hence  it  is  clear  that  Hanni- 
bal crossed  the  Alps  into  Italy  by  the  Little  St.  Bernard.  It 
is  proved  also  by  the  fact  that  large  bones,  which  must  be  the 
bones  of  elephants,  have  been  repeatedly  discovered  by  the 
peasants,  when  the  soil  on  the  margin  of  the  Reclus  has  been 
washed  away  by  an  Alpine  flood. 

It  was,  as  we  have  seen,  on  the  ninth  day  that  Hannibal 
gained  the  summit  of  the  Little  St.  Bernard.  On  this  summit 
there  is  a  plain  two  miles  and  a  half  in  length,  on  which  he 
rested  his  army  two  days.  As  it  was  now  autumn,  a  great 
quantity  of  snow  had  lately  fallen,*  and  covered  all  the  roads, 
which  caused  a  consternation  among  the  troops,  and  dis- 
heartened them  very  much,  Hannibal  perceived  this,  and 
halting  on  a  hill  from  whence  there  was  a  prospect  of  all 
Italy,  he  showed  them  the  fruitful  plains  watered  by  the  Po,t 

*  The  snow  begins  to  fall  there  generally  in  autumn,  and  winter  begins 
at  Michaelmas. 

t  This  circumstance  has  been  started  as  an  objection  against  the  hypo- 
thesis of  the  Little  St,  Bernard  being  the  pass  by  which  Hannibal  en- 
tered Italy ;  but  if  the  objection  be  valid,  as  regards  the  Little  St.  Ber- 
nard, it  is  equally  so  with  reference  to  all  the  other  passes  of  the  Alps. 
But  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  either  the  army  saw  the  plains  of 
the  Po  from  the  pass  itself,  or  that  the  entire  army  saw  the  plains  at  all, 


272  THE   SECOND  PUNIC  WAR. 

telling  them  that  they  had  but  one  effort  more  to  make  before 
they  arrived  thither.  He  represented  to  them  that  a  battle  or 
two  would  put  a  period  to  all  their  toils,  and  enrich  them  for 
ever,  by  giving-  them  possession  of  the  capital  of  the  Roman 
empire.  This  speech,  filled  with  such  pleasing  hopes,  and 
enforced  by  the  sight  of  Italy,  inspired  the  dejected  soldiers 
with  fresh  vigour  and  alacrity ;  they  therefore  pursued  their 
march.  But  the  road  became  more  craggy  than  ever  ;  and 
as  they  were  now  on  a  descent,  the  difficulty  and  danger  in- 
creased. The  ways  were  narrow,  steep,  and  slippery  in  most 
places,  so  that  the  soldiers  could  neither  keep  upon  their 
feet  as  they  marched,  nor  recover  themselves  when  they 
made  a  false  step,  but  stumbled,  and  beat  down  one  another. 

They  were  now  arrived  at  a  more  dangerous  place  than 
they  had  yet  met  with.  This  was  a  path  naturally  very  rug- 
ged and  craggy,  but  which  having  been  made  more  so  by  a 
late  falling  in  of  the  earth,  terminated  in  a  frightful  precipice 
above  1000  feet  deep.  Here  the  cavalry  suddenly  halted. 
Hannibal,  wondering  at  the  cause,  ran  to  the  place,  and  per- 
ceiving the  danger,  was  for  making  a  circuitous  rout ;  but 
this  also  was  found  impracticable.  As  upon  the  old  snow, 
which  was  grown  hard  by  lying,  there  was  some  newly  fall- 
en, of  no  great  depth,  the  feet,  at  first,  by  their  sinking  into 
it,  found  a  firm  support ;  but  this  snow  being  soon  dissolved 
by  the  treading  of  the  foremost  troops  and  beasts  of  burden, 
the  soldiers  marched  on  nothing  but  ice,  which  was  so  slippery 
that  they  could  find  no  firm  footing ;  consequently  the  great- 
est danger  ensued.  Besides  this  difficulty,  the  horses,  strik- 
ing their  feet  forcibly  into  the  ice  to  keep  themselves  from 
falling,  could  not  draw  them  out  again,  but  were  caught  as  in 
a  gin.  The  army  was  therefore  forced  to  seek  some  other 
expedient. 

Hannibal  resolved  to  pitch  his  camp,  and  to  give  his  troops 
some  days'  rest  on  the  summit  of  this  hill,  which  was  of  con- 
siderable extent,  after  they  should  have  cleared  the  ground, 

whether  from  the  pass  or  the  surrounding  heights.  There  were,  how- 
ever, several  peaks  from  which  such  of  the  army  as  chose  might  enjoy 
the  view  of  Italy  as  described  by  Polybius.  The  rarity  of  the  atmosphere 
at  great  elevations  is  well  known  to  enlarge  the  sphere  of  vision,  and 
Bishop  Berkeley  says  of  the  air  of  Italy,  that  when  he  first  went  there,  its 
purity  caused  him  to  believe  that  many  places  were  at  hand,  which  were, 
nevertheless,  many  leagues  distant.  To  have  seen  Rome  itself  from  the 
loftiest  summit  of  the  Alps,  would  have  been  impossible,  but  for  tncm  to 
see  the  direction  in  which  Rome  lay,  and  that  from  the  little  St.  Bernard 
itself,  is  within  the  hounds  of  belief  from  the  causes  noticed. 


THE  SECOND   PUNIC   WAR.  273 

and  removed  all  the  old  as  well  as  the  new  fallen  snow,  which 
was  a  work  of  great  labour.  He  afterwards  ordered  a  path 
to  be  cut  into  the  rock  itself,  which  work  was  carried  on  with 
much  patience  and  ardour.  To  open  and  enlarge  this  path, 
all  the  trees  thereabouts  were  cut  down  and  piled  round  the 
rock,  after  which  they  were  set  on  fire.  By  these,  and  va- 
rious other  methods,  Hannibal  surmounted  all  difficuhies,  and 
he  at  length  gained  the  fruitful  fields  of  Italy.  Eighteen 
days,  in  the  whole,  were  spent  in  crossing  the  range  from 
Chevelu  to  Donas,  where  it  terminates. 

We  pause  here  for  a  moment,  to  reflect  upon  this  mighty 
movement.  The  reader  will,  doubtless,  admire  the  patience, 
the  ardour,  and  the  mental  energy  displayed  at  every  step 
which  the  warrior  took.  But  he  must  stop  here.  When  we 
have  thus  admired  Hannibal,  we  have  given  him  his  due 
meed  of  praise.  The  ends  he  had  in  view  in  this  enterprise, 
and  his  recklessness  of  the  lives  of  those  under  his  command, 
must  meet  with  censure,  and  we  must  look  upon  him  as  one 
of  those  scourges  which  the  Almighty  sometimes  permits  to 
visit  the  human  race  for  their  iniquities.  We  must  look  upon 
him,  also,  as  becomes  Christians,  with  pity.  It  is,  indeed,  la- 
mentable to  see  a  man  possessed  of  such  a  capacious  mind, 
and  capable  of  benefiting  his  fellow  man  to  a  vast  extent, 
using  those  powers  under  the  withering  influences  of  pa- 
ganism, only  to  their  destruction,  and  the  wasting  of  God's 
fair  earth.  Such,  we  shall  see,  were  the  evils  attendant  upon 
his  every  step  in  the  beautiful  land  of  Italy. 

When  Hannibal  entered  Italy,  his  army  was  by  no  means 
so  numerous  as  when  he  left  Spain.  It  had  sustained  great 
losses  during  the  march,  either  in  the  battles  it  was  forced  to 
fight,  or  ill  the  passage  of  rivers.  But  at  his  departure  from 
the  Rhone,  it  still  consisted  of  38,000  foot,  and  above  8000 
horse.  The  march  over  the  Alps,  however,  destroyed  nearly 
half  this  number,  so  that  he  had  now  remaining  only  12,000 
Africans,  8000  Spanish  foot,  and  6000  cavalry.  This  ac- 
count he  himself  caused  to  be  engraved  on  a  pillar  near  the 
promontory  called  Lacinium.  It  was  five  months  and  a  half 
since  his  first  setting  out  from  New  Carthage,  including  the 
eighteen  days  he  employed  in  marching  over  the  Alps,  when 
he  set  up  his  standards  in  the  plains  of  the  Po,  at  the  entrance 
of  Piedmont.     It  was  probably  then  about  September. 

Hannibal's  first  care  was  to  give  his  troops  rest ;  but  as  soon 
as  he  perceived  that  they  were  fit  for  action,  he  began  his  wild 
career  of  slaughter.     The  inhabitants  of  the  territories   of 


274  THE   SECOND   PUNIC    WAR. 

Turin  refusing  to  conclude  an  alliance  with  him,  he  marched 
and  encamped  before  their  city,  carried  it  in  three  days,  and 
put  all  his  opposers  to  death  with  the  sword.  This  expedi- 
tion struck  the  barbarians  with  so  much  dread,  that  they  all 
came  and  surrendered  at  discretion.  The  rest  of  the  Gauls 
would  have  done  the  same,  had  they  not  been  awed  by  the 
terror  of  the  Roman  arms,  which  were  now  approaching. 
Hannibal  concluded,  therefore,  that  he  had  no  time  to  lose ; 
that  it  was  his  interest  to  march  up  into  the  country,  and  at- 
tempt some  great  exploit,  such  as  might  inspire  those  who 
should  have  an  inclination  to  join  him  with  confidence. 

The  rapid  progress  which  Hannibal  had  made,  alarmed 
Rome,  and  caused  the  greatest  consternation  throughout  the 
city.  Sempronius  was  ordered  to  leave  Sicily,  and  hasten  to 
the  relief  of  his  country,  and  P.  Scipio,  the  other  consul,  ad- 
vanced by  forced  marches  towards  the  enemy,  crossed  the  Po, 
and  pitched  his  camp  near  the  Ticinus,  a  small  river  now 
called  Pesino,  near  Lombardy. 

The  armies  being  now  in  sight,  the  generals  on  each  side 
made  a  speech  to  their  soldiers  preparatory  to  the  engage- 
ment, in  which  speeches  each  endeavoured  to  inspire  his  fol- 
lowers with  a  desire  of  doing  valiantly,  or,  in  other  words,  to 
revenge  their  country's  wrongs,  either  real  or  imaginary, 
upon  the  enemy.  When  these  were  concluded,  both  sides 
prepared  to  engage. 

Scipio  posted  in  the  first  line  the  troops  armed  with  missive 
weapons,  and  the  Gaulish  horse  ;  and  forming  his  second  line 
of  the  flower  of  the  confederate  cavalry,  he  advanced  slowly. 
Hannibal  advanced  with  the  whole  of  his  cavalry,  in  the  cen- 
tre of  which  he  posted  the  troopers  who  rode  with  bridles,  and 
the  Numidian  horsemen,  who  rode  without  saddles  or  bridles, 
on  the  wings,  in  order  to  surround  the  enemy.  The  officers 
and  cavalry  being  eager  to  engage,  a  charge  and  dreadful 
slaughter  ensued.  The  battle  continued  a  long  time  with 
equal-  success.  Many  troopers  on  both  sides  dismounted,  so 
that  the  battle  was  carried  on  between  infantry  as  well  as  cav- 
alry. In  the  mean  time,  the  Numidians  surrounded  the 
enemy,  and  charged  the  rear  of  the  light  armed  troops,  who  at 
first  had  escaped  the  attack  of  the  cavalry,  and  trod  them 
under  the  horses'  feet.  The  centre  of  the  Roman  forces  had 
hitherto  fought  with  great  bravery.  Many  were  killed  on 
both  sides,  and  even  more  on  that  of  the  Carthaginians.  But 
the  Roman  troops  were  thrown  into  disorder  by  the  Numi- 
dians, who  attacked  them  in  the  rear ;  and  especially  by  a 


THE   SECOND   PUNIC    WAR.  275 

wound  the  consul  received,  which  disabled  him  from  continu- 
ing the  combat.  This  general,  however,  was  rescued  out  of 
the  enemy's  hands  by  the  bravery  of  his  son,  then  but  seven- 
teen years  of  age,  and  who  afterwards  was  honoured  with 
the  surname  of  Africanus,  for  having  put  a  period  to  this 
war. 

The  consul,  though  dangerously  wounded,  retreated  in 
good  order,  and  was  conveyed  to  his  camp  by  a  iDody  of  horse, 
who  covered  him  with  their  arms  and  bodies ;  the  rest  of  the 
army  followed  him  thither.  He  hastened  to  the  Po,  which  he 
crossed  with  his  army,  and  then  broke  down  the  bridge,  by 
which  means  Hannibal  was  prevented  from  overtaking  him. 

Immediately  after  the  battle  of  the  Ticinus,  all  the  neigh- 
bouring Gauls  seemed  to  contend  who  should  submit  them- 
selves first  to  Hannibal,  furnish  him  with  ammunition,  and 
enlist  in  his  army.  This  indeed,  Polybius  says,  was  what  in- 
duced that  general,  notwithstanding  the  small  number  and 
weakness  of  his  troops,  to  hazard  a  battle  ;  because  nothing 
else  would  oblige  the  Gauls  to  declare  in  his  favour,  and  he 
regarded  their  assistance  as  his  only  refuge. 

Sempronius,  the  consul,  upon  the  orders  he  had  received 
from  the  senate,  had  now  returned  from  Sicily  to  Ariminum. 
From  thence  he  marched  towards  the  Trebia,  a  small  river 
of  Lombardy,  which  falls  into  the  Po,  a  little  above  the  Pla- 
centia,  where  he  joined  his  forces  to  those  of  Scipio.  Han- 
nibal advanced  towards  the  camp  of  the  Romans,  between 
which  only  that  small  river  intervened.  The  armies  lying 
so  near  one  another,  gave  occasion  to  frequent  skirmishes,  in 
one  of  which  Sempronius,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  horse, 
gained  some  advantage  over  a  party  of  Carthaginians.  This 
he  construed  into  a  complete  victory.  He  boasted  of  his  hav- 
ing vanquished  the  enemy  in  the  same  kind  of  fight  in  which 
his  colleague  had  been  defeated,  and  that  he  thereby  had  re- 
vived the  courage  of  the  dejected  Romans.  He  was  now, 
therefore,  resolved  to  come  to  a  decisive  battle  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, and  he  consulted  Scipio,  out  of  courtesy,  upon  the  sub- 
ject. Scipio  entertained  a  different  opinion  from  hiniself 
He  represented,  that  if  time  should  be  allowed  for  disciplin- 
ing the  new  troops  during  the  winter,  they  would  be  much 
fitter  for  service  during  the  campaign ;  that  the  Gauls,  who 
were  fickle  and  inconstant,  would  disengage  themselves  from 
Hannibal ;  that  as  soon  as  his  wounds  were  healed,  his  pres- 
ence might  be  of  some  use  in  such  a  weighty  affair ;  in  a 
word,  he  besought  him  earnestly  to  forego  his  design. 


<|7^  THE   SECOi^D   FTTOTC  WAR, 

These  reasons,  though  just,  made  no  impression  upon  Bern- 
pronius.  He  saw  himself  at  the  head  of  16,000  Romans, 
and  20,000  allies,  exclusive  of  cavalry,  when  both  consuls 
joined  their  forces.  The  troops  of  the  enemy  amounted  to 
nearly  the  same  number.  He  thought  the  juncture  exceed- 
ingly favourable  for  him.  He  declared  that  all  the  officers 
and  soldiers  were  desirous  of  a  battle,  except  his  colleague, 
whose  mind,  he  observed,  being  more  affected  by  his  wound 
than  his  body,  could  not  for  that  reason  endure  the  thought 
of  an  engagement.  But  still,  he  continued,  is  it  just  to  let  the 
whole  army  languish  with  him  1  What  could  Scipio  expect 
more  ?  Did  he  flatter  himself  with  the  hopes  that  a  third 
consul  and  a  new  army  would  come  to  his  assistance  ?  Such 
were  the  expressions  he  employed  among  the  soldiers,  and 
even  about  Scipio's  tent.  The  time  for  the  election  of  new- 
generals  drew  near,  and  Sempronius  was  afraid  a  successor 
would  be  sent  before  he  had  put  an  end  to  the  war,  and  there- 
fore it  was  his  opinion  that  he  ought  to  take  advantage  of  his 
colleague's  illness  to  secure  to  himself  the  honour  of  the  vic- 
tory. As  he  had  no  regard,  says  Polybius,  to  the  time  pro- 
per for  action,  and  only  to  that  which  suited  his  own  interest, 
he  could  not  fail  of  taking  wrong  measures.  He  therefore 
ordered  his  army  to  prepare  for  battle. 

Hannibal  hefd  it  as  a  maxim,  that  a  general  who  has  en- 
tered a  foreign  country,  or  one  possessed  by  the  enemy,  and 
has  formed  some  great  design,  has  no  other  refuge  left  than 
continually  to  raise  the  expectation  of  his  allies  by  some  fresh 
exploits ;  and  therefore  he  was  pleased  with  this  movement. 
Besides,  knowing  that  he  should  have  to  deal  only  with  newly- 
levied  and  inexperienced  troops,  he  was  desirous  of  taking 
advantage  of  the  ardour  of  the  Gauls,  who  were  eager  to  en- 
gage, and  of  Scipio's  absence.  Mago  was  therefore  ordered 
to  lie  in  ambush  with  2000  men,  consisting  of  horse  and  foot, 
on  the  steep  banks  of  a  small  rivulet  which  ran  between  the 
two  camps,  and  to  conceal  himself  among  the  bushes  grow- 
ing thickly  on  that  spot.  He  afterwards  caused  a  detachment 
of  Numidian  cavalry  to  cross  the  Trebia,  with  orders  to  ad- 
vance at  break  oi"  uay  as  far  as  the  very  barriers  of  the  enemy's 
camp,  in  order  to  provoke  them  to  battle  ;  and  then  to  retreat, 
and  repass  the  river,  in  order  to  draw  the  Romans  diter  them. 
What  he  had  foreseen  came  to  pass,  Sempronius  immedi- 
ately detached  his  whole  cavalry  against  the  Numidians,  and 
then  6'  00  light-armed  troops,  who  were  soon  followed  by  all 
the  rest  of  the  army.     The  Numidians  fled  designedly  ;  upon 


THE   SECOND   PUNIC   WAR.  277 

which,  the  Romans  pursued  them  with  great  eagferness,  and 
crossed  the  Trebia  without  resistance,  hut  not  without  great 
difficulty,  being  forced  to  wade  up  to  their  very  arm-pits 
though  the  rivulet,  which  was  swollen  with  the  torrents  that 
had  fallen  in  the  night  from  the  neighbouring  mountains. 
It  was  then  about  the  winter  solstice,  that  is,  in  December. 
It  happened  to  snow  that  day,  and  the  cold  was  excessively 
piercing.  The  Romans  had  left  their  camp  fasting,  and 
without  having  taken  the  least  precaution :  whereas,  Hanni- 
bal's army  had  by  his  order  refreshed  themselves,  got  their 
horses  in  readiness,  rubbed  themselves  with  oil,  and  put  on 
their  armour  by  their  fires. 

They  were  thus  prepared  to  meet  the  Romans,  who  now 
drew  near,  half  spent  with  hunger,  fatigue,  and  cold.  The 
Romans  defended  themselves  valiantly  for  a  considerable  time ; 
but  their  cavalry  was  at  length  broken  by  that  of  the  Cartha- 
ginians, which  was  superior  in  numbers :  the  infantry  also 
w^ere  soon  in  great  disorder.  The  soldiers  in  ambuscade,  sal- 
lying out  at  a  proper  time,  rushed  on  a  sudden  upon  their 
rear,  and  completed  the  overthrow.  A  body  of  above  10,000 
men  resolutely  fought  their  way  through  the  Gauls  and  Af- 
ricans, of  whom,  they  made  a  dreadful  slaughter  ;  but  as  they 
could  neither  assist  their  friends,  nor  return  to  the  camp,  the 
way  to  it  being  cut  off  by  the  Numidian  horse  and  the  river, 
they  retreated  in  good  order  to  Placentia.  Most  of  the  rest 
lost  their  lives  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  being  trampled  to 
death  by  the  horses  and  elephants.  Those  who  escaped 
joined  the  body  above  mentioned,  and  the  next  night  Scipio 
also  retired  to  Placentia.  The  Carthaginians  gained  a  com- 
plete victory,  and  their  loss  was  inconsiderable,  except  that  a 
great  number  of  their  horses  and  all  their  elephants  but  one 
were  destroyed  by  the  cold,  rain,  and  snow. 

In  Spain,  the  Romans  had  better  success  in  this  and  the 
following  campaign  ;  for  Cn.  Scipio  extended  his  conquests 
as  far  as  the  river  Ibcrus,  defeated  tfanno,  and  took  him 
prisoner. 

Hannibal  took  the  opportunity  whilst  he  was  in  winter 
quarters,  to  refresh  his  troops,  and  gnin  the  affection  and  co- 
operation of  the  natives.  For  this  purpose,  after  having  de- 
clared to  the  prisoners  whom  he  had  taken  from  the  allies  of 
the  Romans,  that  he  was  not  come  with  a  view  of  making 
war  upon  them,  but  of  restoring  the  Italians  to  their  liberty, 
and  protecting  them  against  the  Romans,  he  sent  them  all 

VOL.  II.  24 


278  THE   SECOND  PUNIC  WAR. 

home  to  their  own  countries,  without  requiring  a  ransom, 
(b.  c.  217.) 

As  soon  as  the  winter  was  over,  Hannibal  set  out  towards 
Tuscany,  whither  he  resorted  for  two  reasons :  first,  to  avoid 
the  ill  effects  which  would  arise  from  the  ill-will  of  the  Gauls, 
who  were  tired  of  the  long  stay  of  his  army  in  their  territo- 
ries, and  were  impatient  of  bearing  the  whole  burden  of  a 
war,  in  which  they  had  engaged  with  no  other  view  than  to 
carry  it  into  the  country  of  their  common  enemy  ;  secondly, 
that  he  might  by  some  bold  exploit  increase  the  reputation  of 
his  arms  in  the  sight  of  all  Italy,  by  carrying  the  war  to  the 
very  gates  of  Rome,  and  at  the  same  time  reanimate  his 
troops  and  the  Gauls,  his  allies,  by  the  plunder  of  his  enemy's 
lands.  But  in  his  march  over  the  Apennines,  he  was  over- 
taken by  a  dreadful  storm,  which  destroyed  great  numbers  of 
his  men.  The  cold,  the  rain,  and  the  winds  of  heaven  ap- 
peared to  conspire  for  his  ruin  ;  so  that  the  fatigues  which  his 
army  had  endured  in  crossing  the  towering  Alps,  seemed 
light  in  comparison  to  those  they  now  suffered.  He  there- 
fore marched  back  to  Placentia,  where  he  again  fought  with 
Sempronius,  who  was  returned  from  Rome  ;  in  which  con- 
test the  loss  on  both  sides  was  nearly  equal. 

Whilst  Hannibal  was  in  these  winter  quarters,  he  adopted 
a  true  Carthaginian  stratagem.  He  was  surrounded  with 
fickle  and  inconstant  natives,  and  the  friendship  he  had  con- 
tracted with  them  was  but  of  recent  date ;  he  had  reason, 
therefore,  to  apprehend  a  change  in  their  disposition,  and, 
consequently,  that  attempts  would  be  made  upon  his  life.  To 
secure  himself  from  these  apprehended  dangers,  he  ordered 
clothes  to  be  made,  and  false  hair,  suited  to  every  age.  Of 
these  he  sometimes  wore  one,  sometimes  another,  and  so  dis- 
guised himself,  that  even  his  most  intimate  acquaintance  could 
scarcely  recognise  him. 

At  Rome,  Cn.  Servilius  and  C.  Flaminius  had  been  ap- 
pointed consuls.  Hannibal,  having  advice  that  the  latter  was 
advanced  already  as  far  as  Arretium,  a  town  of  Tuscany,  re- 
solved to  meet  him.  Two  ways  being  shown  him,  he  chose 
the  shortest,  though  almost  impassable,  by  reason  of  a  fen 
which  he  was  compelled  to  pass  over.  Here  his  army  suf- 
fered incredible  hardships.  During  four  days  and  three 
nights,  they  marched  mid-leg  in  water,  and  consequently 
could  obtain  no  rest.  Hannibal  himself,  who  rode  upon  the 
only  elephant  left,  could  hardly  surmount  the  danger.  His 
long  want  of  sleep,  and  the  thick  vapours  which  exhaled 


THE   SECOND   PUNIC    WAR.  279 

from  that  place,  tog-ether  with  the  unhealthiness  of  the  season, 
cost  him  one  of  his  eyes. 

Hannibal,  having  extricated  himself  from  this  dangerous 
situation,  and  refreshed  his  troops,  marched  onwards,  and 
pitched  his  camp  between  Arretium  and  Fesuloe,  in  the  rich- 
est and  most  fruitful  part  of  Tuscany.  His  first  endeavours 
were  to  discover  the  disposition  of  Flaminius,  in  order  that 
he  might  take  advantage  of  his  weak  side,  which,  Polybius 
says,  should  always  be  the  chief  study  of  a  general.  He  was 
informed  that  Flaminius  was  conceited  of  his  own  merit,  bold, 
enterprising,  rash,  and  fond  of  glory.  To  plunge  him  the 
deeper  in  these  excesses,  to  which  he  Avas  by  nature  prone, 
Hannibal  inflamed  his  impetuosity,  by  laying  waste  and  burn- 
ing the  whole  country  in  his  sight. 

Flaminius  was  not  of  a  temper  to  continue  inactive  in  his 
camp,  even  if  Hannibal  had  not  thus  wantonly  provoked  him. 
But  when  he  saw  the  territories  of  his  allies  laid  waste,  he 
thought  it  would  reflect  disgrace  upon  him  should  he  suflfer 
the  enemy  to  ransack  Italy  without  control,  and  even  advance 
to  the  very  walls  of  Rome  without  meeting  any  resistance. 
He  rejected  with  scorn  the  prudent  counsels  of  those  who  ad- 
vised him  to  wait  for  his  colleague,  and  to  be  satisfied  for  the 
present  with  checking  the  devastations  of  the  enemy. 

In  the  mean  time,  Hannibal  was  still  advancing  towards 
Rome,  having  Cortona  on  the  left,  and  the  lake  Thrasymenus 
on  his  right.  When  he  saw  that  the  consul  followed  close 
after  him,  with  the  design  to  give  him  battle,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent his  march,  having  observed  that  the  ground  was  conve- 
nient for  an  engagement,  he  thought  only  of  making  prepa- 
rations for  it.  The  lake  Thrasymenus  and  the  mountains  of 
Cortona  form  a  very  narrow  defile,  which  leads  into  a  large 
valley,  lined  on  the  side  with  hills  of  a  considerable  height, 
and  closed  at  the  outlet  by  a  steep  hill  of  difficult  access.  On 
this  hill  Hannibal,  after  having  crossed  the  valley,  came  and 
encamped  with  the  main  body  of  his  army,  posting  his  light- 
armed  infantry  in  ambuscade  on  the  hills  on  the  right,  and 
part  of  his  cavalry  behind  those  on  the  left,  as  far  almost  as 
the  entrance  of  the  defile,  through  which  Flaminius  was 
obliged  to  pass.  Hannibal,  having  permitted  him  to  advance 
with  his  forces  above  half-way  through  the  valley,  and  see- 
ing the  Roman  vanguard  near  him,  gave  the  signal  for  battle, 
and  commanded  his  troops  to  appear  from  their  hiding-place, 
in  order  that  he  might  attack  them  from  all  quarters. 

They  were  not  yet  drawn  up  in  order  of  battle,  nor  had 


280  THE   SECOND   PUNIC   WAR. 

they  their  arms  in  readiness,  when  they  found  themselves  at- 
tacked on  every  hand.  In  a  moment,  all  were  thrown  into 
disorder.  Flaminius,  alone  undaunted  in  so  general  a  con- 
sternation, animated  his  soldiers,  and  exhorted  them  to  cut 
themselves  a  passage  with  their  swords  through  the  midst  of 
the  enemy.  But  the  tumult  which  reigned  every  where,  the 
dreadful  shouts  of  the  enemy,  and  a  fog  that  was  risen,  pre- 
vented his  being  seen  or  heard.  The  Romans,  however, 
when  they  saw  themselves  surrounded  by  the  enemy  at  the 
lake,  without  hope  of  escape,  commenced  the  struggle  with 
ardour.  So  great  was  the  fury  of  the  combatants,  that  not  a 
soldier  in  either  army  perceived  the  shocks  of  an  earthquake, 
which  happened  in  that  country  at  the  time,  and  buried  whole 
cities  in  ruins.  At  length  Flaminius  being  slain  by  one  of 
the  Insubrian  Gauls,  the  Romans  fled.  Great  numbers,  en- 
deavouring to  save  themselves,  leaped  into  the  lake  ;  whilst 
others,  directing  their  course  to  the  mountains,  fell  into  the 
enemy's  hands.  Six  thousand  only,  by  dint  of  courage,  es- 
caped from  the  field,  and  the  next  day  they  also  were  taken 
prisoners.  In  this  battle  15,000  Romans  were  slain.  Han- 
nibal sent  back  the  Latins,  who  were  allies  of  the  Romans, 
into  their  own  country,  without  demanding  a  ransom.  He 
commanded  search  to  be  made  for  the  body  of  Flaminius,  in 
order  to  give  it  burial ;  but  it  could  not  be  found.  He  after- 
wards put  his  troops  into  quarters  of  refreshments,  and  so- 
lemnized the  funerals  of  thirty  of  his  chief  officers,  who  were 
killed  in  the  battle.  He  lost  in  all  but  1500  men,  most  of 
whom  were  Gauls. 

Immediately  after,  Hannibal  despatched  a  courier  to  Car- 
thage, with  the  news  of  his  success.  This  caused  the  great- 
est joy  for  the  present,  gave  birth  to  the  most  promising  hopes 
for  the  future,  and  revived  the  courage  of  all  the  citizens. 
They  now  prepared  with  great  ardour,  to  send  necessary 
succours  into  Italy  and  Spain. 

On  the  contrary,  Rome  was  filled  with  universal  grief  and 
alarm,  as  soon  as  the  pretor  had  pronounced  from  the  Rostra 
the  following  words  :  "  We  have  lost  a  great  battle."  The 
senate,  studious  of  nothing  but  the  public  welfare,  thought 
that  recourse  must  now  be  had  to  extraordinary  remedies. 
They  therefore  appointed  Gluintus  Fabius  dictator,  a  person, 
as  conspicuous  for  his  wisdom  as  his  birth.  It  was  the  cus- 
tom at  Rome,  that  the  moment  a  dictator  was  nominated,  all 
other  authority  ceased,  that  of  the  tribunes  of  the  people  ex- 
cepted.    M.  Minucius  was  appointed  general  of  his  horse. 


THE   SECOND   PFNIC   WAR.  281 

After  the  battle  of  Thrasymenus,  Hannibal,  not  thinking  it 
prudent  to  march  directly  to  Rome,  contented  himself  with 
wasting  the  country.  He  crossed  Umbria  and  Picenum,  and 
after  ten  dayS'  march,  arrived  in  the  territory  of  Adria.  He 
obtained  a  considerable  booty  in  this  march.  Inspired  with 
implacable  and  unrighteous  enmity  to  the  Romans,  he  cruelly 
commanded  that  all  who  were  able  to  bear  arms  should  be 
put  to  the  sword  ;  and  meeting  no  obstacle,  he  advanced  as 
far  as  Apulia,  plundering  the  countries  which  lay  in  his  way, 
and  carrying  desolation  wherever  he  came,  in  order  to  com- 
pel the  natives  to  disengage  themselves  from  their  alliance 
with  the  Romans  ;  and  to  show  all  Italy,  that  Rome  itself 
yielded  him  the  palm  of  victory. 

Fabius,  followed  by  Minucius,  and  four  legions,  had 
marched  from  Rome  in  quest  of  the  enemy,  but  with  a  firm 
resolution  not  to  let  him  take  the  least  advantage,  nor  to  ad- 
vance one  step  till  he  had  first  reconnoitred  every  place,  nor 
hazard  a  battle  till  success  should  be  certain. 

As  soon  as  both  armies  were  in  sight,  Hannibal,  to  terrify 
the  Roman  forces,  offered  them  battle,  by  advancing  almost 
to  their  very  intrenchments.  Finding,  however,  every  thing 
quiet,  he  retired  ;  blaming,  in  appearance,  the  cowardice  of 
the  enemy,  whom  he  upbraided  with  having  lost  the  valour 
which  had  so  much  distinguished  their  ancestors  ;  but«fretting 
inwardly  to  find  he  had  to  do  with  a  general  whose  tempera- 
ment was  so  different  to  that  of  his  predecessors  ;  and  that 
the  Romans,  instructed  by  their  defeat,  had  at  last  made 
choice  of  a  commander  capable  of  opposing  Hannibal. 

Hannibal  perceived  that  the  dictator  would  not  be  formida- 
ble to  him  by  the  boldness  of  his  attacks,  but  by  the  prudence 
and  regularity  of  his  conduct,  which  he  foresaw  w^ould  em- 
barrass him  much.  The  only  circumstance  he  now  wanted 
to  know  was,  whether  the  new  general  had  firmness  enough 
to  pursue  steadily  the  plan  he  appeared  to  have  adopted. 
He  endeavoured,  therefore,  to  shake  his  resolution  by  the  dif- 
ferent movements  which  he  made,  by  laying  waste  the  lands, 
plundering  the  cities,  and  burning  the  towns  and  villages. 
At  one  time,  he  would  raise  his  camp  with  precipitation,  and 
at  another,  stop  short  in  some  valley  out  of  the  common  route, 
to  try  whether  he  could  not  surprise  him  in  the  plain.  Fa- 
bius, however,  still  kept  his  troops  on  the  hills,  but  without 
losing  sight  of  Hannibal ;  never  appearing  near  enough  to 
come  to  an  engagement ;  nor  yet  keeping  at  such  a  distance 
as  might  give  him  an  opportunity  of  escaping.     He  never 

24* 


282  THE    SECOND   PUNIC   WAR. 

suffered  his  soldiers  to  stir  out  of  the  camp,  except  tt»  forage, 
nor  even  on  those  occasions  without  a  numerous  convoy.  If 
ever  he  engaged,  it  was  only  in  slight  skirmishes,  and  so  very 
cautiously,  that  his  troops  had  always  the  advantage.  By 
this  conduct,  he  insensibly  revived  the  courage  of  his  soldiers, 
and  enabled  them  to  rely,  as  they  had  done  formerly,  on  their 
valour  and  good  fortune. 

Hannibal  having  obtained  an  immense  booty  in  Campania, 
left  that  country,  in  order  that  he  might  not  consume  the  pro- 
visions he  had  laid  up,  and  which  he  reserved  for  the  winter 
season.  Besides,  he  could  no  longer  continue  in  a  country 
of  gardens  and  vineyards,  which  were  more  agreeable  to  the 
eye  than  useful  for  the  subsistence  of  an  army ;  a  country 
where  he  would  have  been  forced  to  take  up  his  winter  quar- 
ters among  marshes,  rocks,  and  sands  ;  while  the  Romans 
would  have  drawn  plentiful  supplies  from  Capua,  and  the 
richest  parts  of  Italy.     He  therefore  resolved  to  winter  there. 

Fabius  naturally  supposed  that  Hannibal  would  be  obliged 
to  return  the  same  way  he  came,  and  that  he  might  easily 
annoy  him  during  his  march.  He  began  by  throwing  a  con- 
siderable body  of  troops  into  Casilinum,  and  thereby  securing 
that  small  town,  situated  on  the  Vulturnus,  which  separated 
the  territories  of  Falernum  from  those  of  Capua :  he  after- 
wards detached  4000  men  to  seize  the  only  outlet  through 
which  Hannibal  could  pass  ;  and  then,  according  to  his  usual 
custom,  posted  himself  with  the  remainder  of  the  army  on  the 
adjoining  hills. 

The  Carthaginians  arrived  and  encamped  in  the  plain  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountains.  And  now  the  crafty  Hannibal  fell  into 
the  snare  he  had  laid  for  Flaminius  at  the  defile  of  Thrasy- 
menus ;  and  it  seemed  impossible  for  him  to  extricate  himself 
from  this  difficulty,  there  being  but  one  pass,  of  which  the 
Romans  were  possessed.  Fabius,  fancying  himself  sure  of 
his  prey,  was  only  contriving  how  to  seize  it.  He  flattered 
himself,  and  the  probability  was  in  his  favour,  with  the  hopes 
of  putting  an  end  to  the  war  by  a  single  battle.  He  thought 
fit,  nevertheless,  to  defer  the  attack  till  the  next  day. 

Hannibal  perceived  that  his  own  artifices  were  now  em- 
ployed against  him.  In  such  junctures  as  these,  a  general  has 
need  of  unusual  presence  of  mind  and  fortitude,  to  view  dan- 
ger in  its  utmost  extent  without  being  dismayed,  and  promptly 
to  find  out  expedients.  Hannibal  showed  himself  equal  to 
this :  he  immediately  caused  2000  oxen  to  be  collected,  and 
ordered  small  bundles  of  vine  branches  to  be  tied  to  their 


THE    SECOND   PTJNIC    WAR.  283 

horns ;  and  towards  the  dead  of  night,  these  vine  branches 
were  set  on  fire,  and  the  oxen  driven  with  violence  to  the  top 
of  the  hills  where  the  Romans  were  encamped. 

As  soon  as  the  poor  animals  felt  the  flame,  the  pain  ren- 
dered them  furious,  and  they  flew  up  and  down  on  all  sides, 
and  set  fire  to  the  shrubs  and  bushes  they  met  in  their  way. 
A  number  of  light  armed  soldiers  accompanied  the  oxen,  who 
had  orders  to  seize  upon  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  and  to 
charge  the  Romans,  if  they  should  meet  them.  Every  thing 
happened  as  Hannibal  had  foreseen.  The  Romans  who 
guarded  the  defile,  seeing  the  fires  spread  over  the  hills 
which  were  above  them,  and  imagining  that  it  was  Hannibal 
making  his  escape  by  torch  light,  quitted  their  post,  and  ran 
up  to  the  mountains  to  oppose  his  passage.  The  main  body 
of  the  army  not  knowing  what  to  think  of  this  tumult,  and 
Fabius  himself  not  daring  to  move  while  it  was  dark,  for  fear 
of  a  surprise,  waited  for  the  return  of  the  day.  Hannibal  em- 
braced this  opportunity,  marched  his  troops  and  the  spoils 
through  the  defile,  which  was  now  unguarded,  and  rescued 
his  army  out  of  a  snare,  in  which,  had  Fabius  been  more 
vigorous,  it  would  have  been  destroyed,  or  greatly  weakened. 

The  Carthaginian  army  returned  to  Apulia,  still  pursued 
and  harassed  by  the  Romans.  The  dictator  being  obliged  to 
take  a  journey  to  Rome,  on  account  of  some  religious  cere- 
monies, earnestly  entreated  Minucius  before  his  departure  not 
to  venture  an  engagement.  This  entreaty  was  disregarded  : 
the  very  first  opportunity  that  offered  itself,  whilst  part  of 
Hannibal's  troops  were  foraging,  Minucius  charged  the  rest, 
and  gained  some  advantage.  He  immediately  sent  advice  of 
it  to  Rome,  as  if  he  had  obtained  a  considerable  victory.  The 
news  of  this,  with  what  had  just  before  occurred  at  the  pas- 
sage of  the  defile,  raised  complaints  at  the  slow  movements 
and  timorous  circumspection  of  Fabius.  Matters,  indeed, 
were  carried  so  far,  that  the  Roman  people  gave  his  general 
of  horse  an  equal  authority  with  him,  a  circumstance  never 
known  before.  The  dictator  was  upon  the  road  when  he  re- 
ceived advice  of  this ;  for  he  had  left  Rome  in  order  that  he 
might  not  witness  what  was  contriving  against  him.  His 
constancy,  however,  was  not  shaken.  He  was  sensible  that 
though  his  authority  was  divided,  his  skill  in  the  art  of  war 
was  superior. 

Minucius,  grown  arrogant  at  the  advantage  gained  over 
his  colleague,  proposed  that  each  should  command  a  day 
akernately,  or  even  a  longer  time.     But  Fabius  rejected  this 


284  THE    SECOND   PUNIC   WAR. 

proposal,  as  it  would  have  exposed  the  whole  army  to  danger 
whilst  under  the  command  of  Minucius.  He  therefore  chose 
to  divide  the  troops,  in  order  that  it  might  be  in  his  power  to 
preserve,  at  least,  that  part  of  the  army  which  he  commanded. 
Hannibal,  informed  of  all  that  passed  in  the  Roman  camp, 
was  rejoiced  to  hear  of  this  dissension  between  the  two  com- 
manders. He  therefore  laid  a  snare  for  the  rash  Minucius, 
into  which  he  fell.  He  engaged  the  enemy  on  an  eminence, 
in  which  an  ambuscade  was  concealed.  His  troops  were 
soon  thrown  into  disorder,  and  were  upon  the  point  of  being 
destroyed,  when  Fabius,  alarmed  by  the  outcries  of  the 
wounded,  called  aloud  to  his  soldiers,  "  Let  us  hasten  to  the 
assistance  of  Minucius:  let  us  flee  and  snatch  the  victory 
from  the  enemy,  and  extort  from  our  fellow-citizens  a  confes- 
sion of  their  fault."  This  succour  was  very  seasonable  ;  for 
it  compelled  Hannibal  to  sound  a  retreat.  The  latter,  as  he 
was  retiring,  said,  "  That  the  cloud  which  had  been  long 
hovering  on  the  summit  of  the  mountains,  had  at  last  burst 
with  a  loud  crack,  and  caused  a  mighty  storm."  This  im- 
portant service  rendered  by  the  dictator,  opened  the  eyes  of 
Minucius ;  he  acknowledged  his  error,  and  returned  imme- 
diately to  his  duty  and  obedience. 

THE    STATE    OF    AFFAIRS    IN    SPAIN. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  campaign,  Cn.  Scipio  having  sud- 
denly attacked  the  Carthaginian  fleet  commanded  by  Hamil- 
car,  defeated  it,  and  took  twenty-five  ships,  with  a  quantity  of 
rich  spoils.  This  victory  made  the  Romans  sensible  that 
they  ought  to  be  particularly  attentive  to  the  affairs  of  Spain, 
because  Hannibal  could  draw  from  thence  supplies  both  of 
men  and  money.  Accordingly,  they  sent  a  fleet  thither,  the 
command  whereof  was  given  to  P.  Scipio,  who,  after,  his 
arrival  in  Spain,  having  joined  his  brother,  did  the  common- 
wealth very  great  service.  Till  that  time,  the  Romans  had 
never  ventured  beyond  the  Ebro ;  but  now  they  crossed  it, 
and  carried  their  arms  much  farther  up  into  the  country. 

The  circumstance  which  contributed  most  to  promote  their 
progress  in  Spain,  was  the  treachery  of  a  Spaniard  in  Sagun- 
tum.  Hannibal  had  left  there  the  children  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished families  in  Spain,  whom  he  had  taken  as  hostages. 
Abelox,  for  so  this  Spaniard  was  called,  persuaded  Bostar,  the 
governor  of  the  city,  to  send  back  these  young  men  into  their 
country,  in  order,  by  that  means,  to  attach  the  inhabitants 


THE   SECOND    PUNIC   WAH.  285 

more  firmly  to  the  Carthaginian  interest.  Abelox  prevailed, 
and  was  charged  with  the  commission ;  but  instead  of  con- 
ducting them  home,  he  delivered  them  to  the  Romans,  who 
afterwards  presented  them  to  their  parents,  by  which  means 
they  acquired  their  amity, 

THE   AFFAIRS   IN   ITALY   RESUMED. 

The  next  spring,  (216  years  b.  c.,)  C.  Terrentius  Varro 
and  L.  ^milius  Paulus  were  chosen  consuls  at  Rome.  In 
this  campaign,  which  was  the  third  of  the  second  Punic  war, 
the  Romans  formed  their  army  into  eight  legions,  which  they 
never  did  before,  each  consisting  of  5000  men,  exclusive  of 
the  allies.  As  for  the  troops  of  the  allies,  their  infantry  was 
equal  to  that  of  the  legions,  but  they  had  three  times  as  many 
horse.  Each  of  the  consuls  had  commonly  half  the  troops  of 
the  allies,  with  two  legions,  in  order  for  them  to  act  separately, 
and  it  was  very  seldom  that  all  these  forces  were  used  at  the 
same  time,  and  in  the  same  expedition. 

Varro,  at  his  setting  out  from  Rome,  had  declared  openly, 
that  he  would  meet  the  enemy  at  the  first  opportunity,  and 
put  an  end  to  the  war ;  adding,  that  it  would  never  be  ter- 
minated so  long  as  such  men  as  Fabius  should  head  the  Ro- 
man armies.  An  advantage  which  he  gained  over  the  Car- 
thaginians greatly  increased  his  arrogance,  and  confirmed 
him  in  his  determination.  Hannibal,  however,  regardless 
still  of  human  suffering,  considered  this  loss  a  real  advantage ; 
being  persuaded  that  it  would  serve  as  a  bait  for  the  consul's 
rashness,  and  prompt  him  to  a  battle.  It  was  afterwards  dis- 
covered that  Hannibal  was  reduced  to  such  a  scarcity  of  pro- 
visions, that  he  could  not  have  subsisted  ten  days  longer. 
The  Spaniards  moreover,  were  already  meditating  leaving 
him ;  so  that  he  must  have  retreated  from  Italy,  had  not 
Varro  being  thrown  in  his  way. 

The  two  armies  came  in  sight  of  each  other  near  Cannae, 
a  little  town  in  Apulia,  situated  on  the  river  Aufidus.  As 
Hannibal  was  encamped  in  a  level  country,  and  his  cavalry 
superior  to  that  of  the  Romans,  ^milius  did  not  think  proper 
to  engage  in  such  a  place :  he  wished  to  draw  the  enemy  into 
a  spot,  where  the  infantry  might  have  the  greatest  share  in 
the  action  ;  but  his  colleague,  who  was  inexperienced,  was 
of  a  contrary  opinion.  Such  is  the  inconvenience  of  a  divided 
command  ;  jealousy,  a  disparity  of  tempers,  or  a  diversity  of 
views,  seldom  failing  to  create  dissension. 


286  THE   SECOXD   PUNIC    WAR. 

In  accordance  with  his  resolve,  without  consulting  his  col- 
league, Varro,  one  day  when  he  had  the  command,  (for  the  . 
two  consuls  ruled  absolute  on  alternate  days,)  prepared  for 
battle.  Hannibal  had  now  his  wish,  and  after  observing  to 
his  soldiers,  that  being  superior  in  cavalry,  they  could  not 
possibly  have  met  with  a  more  favourable  place  to  engage  in, 
he,  supposing  that  the  powers  above  delighted  in  the  conflicts 
of  man  below,  exclaimed :  "  Return  thanks  to  the  gods  for 
having  brought  the  enemy  hither,  that  you  may  triumph  over 
them ;  and  thank  me  also,  for  having  reduced  the  Romans  to 
the  necessity  of  coming  to  an  engagement.  After  three  great 
successive  victories,  is  not  the  remembrance  of  your  own  ac- 
tions sufficient  to  inspire  you  with  courage  ?  By  the  former 
battles  you  have  become  masters  of  the  open  country  ;  but 
this  will  put  you  in  possession  of  all  the  cities,  and  (I  presume 
to  say  it)  of  all  the  riches  and  power  of  the  Romans.  It  is  not 
words  that  we  want,  but  action  ;  I  trust  in  the  gods,  that  you 
will  soon  see  my  promises  verified."  This  speech,  so  flatter- 
ing, so  full  of  hope,  and  so  suited  to  the  desires  of  his  army, 
inspired  it  with  ardour. 

The  two  armies  were  very  unequal  in  number.  That  of 
the  Romans,  including  the  aUies,  amounted  to  80,000  foot, 
and  about  6000  horse ;  that  of  the  Carthaginians  to  40,000 
foot  and  10,000  horse.  iEmilius  commanded  the  right  wing 
of  the  Romans,  Varro  the  left,  and  Servilius,  one  of  the  con- 
suls of  the  last  year,  was  posted  in  the  centre.  Hannibal, 
who  possessed  the  art  of  turning  every  incident  to  advantage, 
had  posted  himself  so  that  the  wind  Vulturnus,  (a  wind  an- 
swering to  the  modern  sirocco,  or  hot  wind  which  blows  from 
the  quarter  of  Africa  for  many  days  together,)  which  rises  at 
stated  seasons,  should  blow  directly  in  the  faces  of  the  Romans 
during  the  fight,  and  cover  them  with  dust ;  then  keeping  the 
river  Aufidus  on  his  left,  and  posting  his  cavalry  in  the  wings, 
he  formed  the  main  body  of  the  Spanish  and  Gaulish  infantry, 
which  he  posted  in  the  centre,  with  half  the  African  heavy 
armed  foot  on  their  right,  and  half  on  their  left,  on  the  same 
line  with  their  cavalry.  His  army  being  thus  drawn  up,  he 
placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Spanish  and  Gaulish  infantry, 
and  having  drawn  them  out  of  the  line,  advanced  to  give  bat-^ 
tie,  rounding  his  front  as  he  drew  near  the  enemy,  and  ex- 
tending his  flanks  in  the  shape  of  a  half  moon,  in  order  that 
he  might  leave  no  interval  between  his  main  body  and  the 
rest  of  the  line,  which  consisted  of  the  heavy  armed  infantry. 
The  result  of  this  battle  was  dreadful.     The  Romans  were 


THE   SECOND   PUNIC   WAR.  287 

conquered,  and,  according  to  Livy,  43,000  human  beings 
perished.  Hannibal  himself,  great  as  his  thirst  was  for  re- 
venge and  slaughter,  seems  to  have  been  at  this  time  satisfied; 
for  he  cried  out  several  times  to  his  soldiers,  "  Spare  the  van- 
quished." Among  the  slain  was  ^miUus;  Servilius;  Minu- 
cius,  the  late  general  of  horse  to  Fabius ;  two  qucestors ;  one 
and  twenty  military  tribunes  :  many  who  had  been  consuls ; 
and  fourscore  senators.  Ten  thousand  men,  who  had  been 
left  to  guard  the  camp,  surrendered  to  the  enemy.  Varro, 
the  consul,  through  whose  rashness  this  disaster  had  oc- 
curred, escaped  with  the  remnant  of  the  army  into  the  adja- 
cent cities.  Thus  Hannibal  remained  master  of  the  field,  he 
being  chiefly  indebted  for  this,  as  well  as  for  his  former  vic- 
tories, to  the  superiority  of  his  cavalry  over  that  of  the  Ro- 
mans. 

Maharbal,  one  of  the  Carthaginian  generals,  advised  Han- 
nibal to  march  without  loss  of  time  to  Rome,  promising  him, 
that  within  five  days  they  should  sup  in  the  Capitol.  Hanni- 
bal answering,  that  it  was  a  matter  which  required  mature 
deliberation :  "  I  see,"  replied  Maharbal,  "  that  the  gods  have 
not  endowed  the  same  man  with  all  talents.  You,  Hannibal, 
know  how  to  conquer,  but  not  to  make  the  best  use  of  a  vic- 
tory." 

it  is  asserted,  that  this  delay  saved  Rome,  and  the  empire. 
If  it  did,  it  must  not  be  attributed  to  the  error  of  Hannibal, 
as  some  have  supposed.  His  will  was  to  raze  the  very  foun- 
dations of  Rome  to  the  ground  ;  but,  restrained  by  a  higher 
Power,  who  ruleth  unseen,  and  sometimes  unknown  among 
men,  he  was  fearful  of  prosecuting  at  this  time  the  desire  of 
his  heart :  hence  we  may  safely  affirm,  that  Rome  was  saved 
by  the  interposition  of  Divine  Providence. 

Soon  after  the  battle  of  Cannoe,  Hannibal  had  despatched 
his  brother  Mago  to  Carthage,  with  the  news  of  his  victory, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  demand  succours,  in  order  that  he 
might  be  enabled  to  put  an  end  to  the  conflict. 

On  his  arrival,  Mago,  in  full  senate,  made  a  lofty  speech, 
in  which  he  extolled  his  brother's  exploits,  and  displayed  the 
great  advantages  he  had  obtained  over  the  Romans.  And, 
to  give  a  more  lively  idea  of  the  greatness  of  the  victory,  he 
poured  out  in  the  middle  of  the  senate  a  bushel  of  gold  rings 
which  had  been  taken  from  the  fingers  of  such  of  the  Roman 
nobility  as  had  fallen  in  the  battle  of  Cannre,  with  the  inten- 
tion, no  doubt,  of  inflaming  their  avarice,  for  which  they  were 
proverbial,  that  he  might  the  more  readily  obtain  his  demands  j 


288  THE  SECOND  PUNIC   WAR. 

for  he  concluded  his  speech  with  demanding  money,  provi- 
sions, and  reinforcements. 

Mago,  by  this  deed,  showed  that  he  understood  the  weak 
point  of  the  senate :  most  of  them  were  struck  with  an  extra- 
ordinary joy ;  and  Imilco,  a  great  friend  to  Hannibal,  fancy- 
in  o-  he  had  a  fair  opportunity  to  insuk  Hanno,  the  chief  of 
the  contrary  faction,  who  was  opposed  to  that  general,  he 
asked  him,  whether  they  were  still  dissatisfied  wkh  the  war 
they  were  carrying  on  against  the  Romans,  and  were  still  for 
having  Hannibal  dehvered  up  to  them?  Hanno  replied,  that 
his  opinion  was  unakered ;  and  that  the  victories  of  which 
they  so  much  boasted  (supposing  them  real)  could  not  give 
him  joy,  but  only  in  proportion  as  they  should  be  made  sub- 
servient to  an  advantageous  peace.  He  then  undertook  to 
prove  that  the  mighty  exploits  of  which  they  so  much  boasted 
were  fallacious :  "  I  have  cut  to  pieces,"  says  he,  continuing 
Mago's  speech,  "  the  Roman  armies ;  send  me  some  troops. 
What  m.ore  could  you  ask  had  you  been  conquered  ?  I  have 
twice  seized  upon  the  enemy's  camp,  full,  no  doubt,  of  provi- 
sions of  every  kind.  Send  me  provisions  and  money.  Could 
you  have  talked  otherwise,  had  you  lost  your  camp?"  He 
then  asked  Mago,  whether  any  of  the  Latin  nations  had  come 
over  to  Hannibal,  and  whether  the  Romans  had  made  him 
any  proposals  of  peace.  To  this  Mago  answered  in  the  neg- 
ative. "  I  then  perceive,"  replied  Hanno,  "  that  we  are  no 
farther  advanced,  than  when  Hannibal  first  landed  in  Italy." 
The  inference  he  drew  from  hence  was,  that  nekher  men  nor 
money  ought  to  be  supplied.  But  Hannibal's  faction  prevail- 
ing, no  regard  was  paid  to  Hanno's  remonstrances,  which 
were  treated  as  the  effects  of  prejudice  and  jealousy,  and  orders 
were  given  for  levying,  without  delay,  the  required  supplies. 
Mago  set  out  immediately  for  Spain,  to  raise  24,000  foot  and 
4000  horse  in  that  country :  but  these  levies  were  afterwards 
stopped,  and  sent  to  another  quarter ;  so  eager  was  the  con- 
trary faction  to  oppose  the  designs  of  a  general  whom  they 
abhorred.  While  in  Rome,  a  consul,  who  had  fled,  was 
thanked  because  he  had  not  despaired  of  the  common weahh  ; 
at  Carthage,  people  were  almost  angry  with  Hannibal  for  be- 
ing victorious.  Thus,  being  more  jealous  for  the  honour  of 
his  own  opinions,  than  for  the  good  of  his  country,  and  a 
greater  enemy  to  Hannibal  than  the  Romans,  Hanno  did  all 
in  his  power  to  prevent  future  success,  and  to  render  that 
which  had  been  already  gained  of  no  avail. 

Thus  weak  and  inconsistent  is  man  by  nature,  and  so  va- 


THE    SECOND   PUNIC   WAR.  289 

rious  are  the  ways  in  which  he  torments  his  fellow.  Dislike, 
once  conceived  and  cherished,  there  is  no  mean,  unjust,  and 
cruel  expedient,  to  which  he  will  not  frequently  resort,  to 
make  him  feel  his  vengeance.  But  how  different  is  it  when 
men  are  born  again  by  the  Spirit  of  God !  Then,  the  fierce- 
ness of  the  fallen  nature  of  man  being  restrained  by  his  hal- 
lowed influences,  it  exhibits  a  dove-like  and  peaceable  dispo- 
sition ;  and  men  whose  dispositions  are  of  an  opposite  nature, 
associate  together  in  harmony  and  love  ;  each  striving  to  ad- 
minister to  his  brother's  happiness,  for  the  sake  of  their  one 
common  Lord. 

The  battle  of  Cannce  subjected  the  most  powerful  nations 
of  Italy  to  Hannibal,  drew  over  to  his  interest  Groscia  Magna, 
with  the  city  of  Tarentum,  and  thus  wrested  from  the  Romans 
their  most  ancient  allies,  among  whom  the  Capuans  held  the 
first  rank.  This  city,  by  the  fertility  of  its  soil,  its  advantage- 
ous situation,  and  the  blessings  of  a  long  peace,  had  risen  to 
great  wealth  and  power.  Luxury  and  a  love  of  pleasure, 
the  usual  attendants  on  wealth,  had  corrupted  the  minds  of  its 
citizens,  who,  from  their  natural  inclinations,  were  much  in- 
clined to  voluptuousness. 

Hannibal  made  choice  of  this  city  for  his  winter  quarters ; 
and  here  it  was,  according  to  Livy,  that  those  soldiers  who 
had  sustained  the  hardest  toil,  and  braved  the  most  formid- 
able dangers,  were  weakened  and  subdued  by  luxury.  Their 
courage  w^as  so  greatly  enervated  in  this  beM'itching  retire- 
ment, that  ail  their  after  efforts  were  rather  owing  to  the  fame 
and  splendour  of  their  former  victories,  than  to  their  present 
strength.  When  Hannibal  marched  his  forces  out  of  the 
city,  one  would  have  taken  them  for  other  men  than  those 
who  had  entered  it  under  his  command.  Accustomed  during 
the  winter  season  to  commodious  lodgings,  to  ease  and  plenty, 
they  were  no  longer  able  to  bear  hunger,  thirst,  long  marches, 
watchings,  and  the  varied  toils  of  war;  and  obedience  and 
discipline  were  entirely  laid  aside. 

It  is  doubtful  if  Livy  is  correct  in  imputing  all  these  fatal 
consequences  to  the  delights  of  Capua.  It  might  have  been 
one,  and  a  great  cause,  (for  luxury  is  the  destroyer  of  man, 
both  soul  and  body,)  but  the  real  cause  of  the  decline  of  Han- 
nibal's affairs  in  Italy,  was  owing  to  his  want  of  succours 
from  Carthage.  The  design  of  Imilco's  faction  in  sending 
these  succours  was  thwarted  by  that  of  Hanno,  and  those 
recruits  which  Mago  raised  by  order  of  the  senate  were  sent 
to  another  quarter.     It  followed,  therefore,  that  Hannibal  was 

VOL.  n.  25 


2§^,  THE   SECOND    PUNIC   WAR. 

left  to  depend  upon  his  own  personal  resources.  His  army 
was  now  reduced  to  26,000  foot,  and  9000  horse  ;  and  it  was 
hence  impossible  for  him,  in  an  enemy's  country,  to  seize  on 
all  the  advantageous  posts ;  to  awe  his  new  allies  ;  to  preserve 
his  old  conquests,  and  form  new  ones ;  and  to  keep  the  field 
with  advantage  against  two  armies  of  the  Romans,  which 
were  recruited  every  year.  The  truth  is,  bounds  were  set  to 
his  unhallowed  ambition  and  revenge  by  a  superior  Power, 
and  he  was  to  be  sent  home,  not  decked  with  the  wreath  of  a 
victor,  but  "  clothed  with  shame." 

TRANSACTIONS   RELATING   TO    SPAIN   AND    SARDINIA. 

The  two  Scipios  still  continued  in  the  command  of  Spain, 
(b.  c.  214,)  and  their  arms  were  making  considerable  pro- 
gress there,  when  Asdrubal,  who  alone  seemed  able  to  cope 
with  them,  received  orders  from  Carthage  to  march  into  Italy 
to  the  relief  of  Hannibal  his  brother.  Before  that  general 
set  out,  he  wrote  to  the  senate  to  convince  them  of  the  neces- 
sity of  sending  a  general  in  his  stead  who  was  capable  of 
opposing  the  Romans.  Imilco  was  therefore  sent  thither  with 
an  army,  and  Asdrubal  set  out  upon  his  march  in  order  to 
join  his  brother.  The  news  of  his  departure  was  no  sooner 
known,  than  the  greatest  part  of  Spain  was  subjected  by  the 
Scipios.  These  two  generals,  animated  by  such  signal  suc- 
cess, resolved  to  prevent  Asdrubal,  if  possible,  from  leaving 
Spain.  They  considered  the  danger  to  which  the  Romans 
would  be  exposed  if,  being  scarcely  able  to  resist  Hannibal 
alone,  they  should  be  attacked  by  the  two  brothers  with  their 
united  forces.  They  therefore  pursued  Asdrubal,  and  over- 
came him,  so  that  he  could  neither  continue  his  march  for 
Italy,  nor  remain  in  Spain. 

The  Carthaginians  had  no  better  success  in  Sardinia.  De- 
signing to  take  advantage  of  some  rebellion,  which  they  had 
fomented  in  that  country,  they  lost  12,000  men  in  a  battle 
fought  against  the  Romans,  who  took  a  still  greater  number 
of  prisoners,  among  whom  were  Asdrubal,  surnamed  Calvus, 
Hanno,  and  Mago,  (not  Hannibal's  brother,)  who  were  dis- 
tinguished by  their  birth  as  well  as  military  exploits. 

THE    AFFAIRS    IN    ITALY    RESUMED. 

^  From  the  time  of  Hannibal's  abode  in  Capua,  the  Cartha- 
ginian affairs  in  Italy  no  longer  supported  their  former  repu- 


THE   SECOND   PUNIC   WAR.  291 

tation.  M.  Marcellus,  first  as  pretor,  and  afterwards  as  con- 
sul, had  contributed  very  much  to  this  revolution.  He 
harassed  Hannibal's  army  on  every  occasion,  (b.  c.  211 — 
212,)  seized  upon  his  quarters,  forced  him  to  raise  sieges,  and 
even  defeated  him  in  several  engagements ;  so  that  he  was 
called  the  Sword  of  Rome,  as  Fabius  had  before  been  termed 
its  Buckler, 

But  what  most  affected  Hannibal  was,  to  see  Capua  be- 
sieged by  the  Romans.  In  order,  therefore,  to  sustain  his 
reputation  among  his  allies  by  a  vigorous  support  of  those 
who  held  the  chief  rank  as  such,  he  hastened  to  the  relief  of 
that  city,  brought  forward  his  forces,  attacked  the  Romans, 
and  fought  several  battles  to  oblige  them  to  raise  the  siege. 
At  length,  seeing  all  his  measures  defeated,  he  marched  hasti- 
ly toward  Rome,  (b.  c.  211,)  in  order  to  make  a  powerful 
diversion. 

Hannibal  was  not  without  hope  of  being  able,  in  the  first 
consternation,  to  storm  some  part  of  Rome,  and  thus  drawing 
the  Roman  generals  with  all  their  forces  from  the  siege  of 
Capua  to  the  relief  of  their  capital ;  at  least  he  flattered  him- 
self, that  if,  for  the  sake  of  continuing  the  siege,  they  should 
divide  their  forces,  their  weakness  might  then  offer  an  occa- 
sion, either  to  the  Capuans  or  himself,  of  engaging  or  defeat- 
ing them. 

Rome  was  surprised  at  this  movement,  but  not  confounded. 
A  proposal  being  made  by  one  of  the  senators,  to  recall  all 
the  armies  to  succour  Rome,  Fabius  declared,  that  it  would 
be  shameful  in  them  to  be  terrified,  and  forced  to  change  their 
measures  upon  every  movement  of  Hannibal.  They  there- 
fore only  called  a  portion  of  the  army  and  one  of  the  gene- 
rals, Gl.  Fulvius,  the  pro-consul,  from  the  siege. 

Hannibal,  after  making  some  devastations,  drew  up  his 
army  in  order  of  battle  before  the  city,  and  the  consul  did 
the  same.  Both  sides  were  preparing  for  the  conflict,  when 
a  violent  storm  obliged  them  to  separate.  They  were  no 
sooner  returned  to  their  respective  camps  than  the  face  of  the 
heavens  grew  serene,  as  though  pleased  with  having  pre- 
vented the  strife. 

But  the  circumstances  which  most  confounded  Hannibal 
were,  that  whilst  he  lay  encamped  at  the  gates  of  Rome,  the 
Romans  had  sent  out  recruits  for  the  army  in  Spain  at  an- 
other gate ;  and  that  the  ground  whereon  his  camp  was  pitched 
had  been  sold,  notwithstanding  that  circumstance,  for  its  full 
value.    So  barefaced  a  contempt  stung  Hannibal  to  the  quick  j 


292  THE    SECOND   PUNIC   WAH. 

he  therefore,  by  way  of  retaliation,  put  up  to  auction  the  shops 
of  the  goldsmiths  round  the  Forum.  After  this  bravado,  he 
retired,  and  in  his  march  plundered  the  rich  temple  of  the 
goddess  Ferona,  who,  according  to  heathen  mythology,  pre- 
sided over  groves. 

Capua,  thus  left  to  itself,  held  out  but  very  little  longer. 
After  such  of  its  senators  as  had  taken  the  chief  share  in  its 
revolt,  and  who  could  not  expect  mercy  from  the  Romans, 
had  put  themselves  to  a  tragical  death  by  drinking  poison, 
the  city  surrendered  at  discretion.  The  success  of  this  siege 
fully  restored  to  the  Romans  their  superiority  over  the  Car- 
thaginians, and  it  showed  at  the  same  time  how  formidable 
the  power  of  the  Romans  was  when  they  undertook  to  punish 
their  perfidious  allies ;  and  the  feeble  protection  which  Han- 
nibal could  afford  his  friends  in  the  hour  of  danger. 

THE    AFFAIRS    IN    SPAIN. 

The  aspect  of  affairs  was  very  much  changed  in  Spain, 
B.  c.  212.  The  Carthaginians  had  three  armies  in  that  coun- 
try ;  one  commanded  by  Asdrubal,  the  son  of  Gisgo  ;  the 
second  by  Asdrubal,  son  of  Hamilcar ;  and  a  third  under 
Mago,  who  had  joined  the  first  Asdrubal.  The  two  Scipios, 
Cneus  and  Publius,  were  for  dividing  their  forces,  and  at- 
tacking the  enemy  separately,  which  was  the  cause  of  their 
ruin.  They  agreed  that  Cneus,  with  a  small  number  of  Ro- 
mans, and  30,000  Cehiberians,  (a  people  of  ancient  Spain, 
supposed  to  have  been  descended  from  Celtar,  who,  in  remote 
times,  emigrated  from  Gaul,  and  afterwards  became  mixed 
with  the  native  Iberians,)  should  march  against  Asdrubal,  the 
son  of  Hamilcar ;  whilst  Publius,  with  the  remainder  of  the 
forces,  composed  of  Romans  and  the  Italian  allies,  should  ad- 
vance against  the  other  two  generals. 

Publius  was  vanquished  first.  To  the  two  leaders  he  had 
to  oppose,  Masinissa,  elate  with  the  victories  he  had  lately 
gained  over  Syphax,  joined  himself,  and  was  soon  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  Indibilis,  a  powerful  Spanish  prince.  The  armies 
came  to  an  engagement,  and  the  Romans,  so  long  as  they  had 
their  general  at  their  head,  made  a  courageous  resistance ; 
but  he  being  slain,  those  who  had  escaped  the  carnage  se- 
cured themselves  by  flight. 

The  three  victorious  armies  marched  immediately  in  quest 
of  Cneus,  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  the  war  by  his  defeat. 
Cneus  was  already  more  than  half  vanquished  by  the  d^ser- 


THE    SECOND   PUNIC   WAR.  293 

lion  of  his  allies,  who  all  forsook  him,  and  left  to  the  Roman 
generals  this  important  instruction — never  to  let  their  own 
forces  be  exceeded  in  numbers  by  those  of  foreigners.  Cneus 
guessed  that  his  brother  was  slain,  and  his  army  defeated, 
upon  seeing  such  great  bodies  of  the  enemy  arrive.  He  sur- 
vived him  but  a  short  time,  being  killed  in  the  engagement. 
These  two  great  men  were  equally  lamented  by  their  citizens 
and  allies  ;  and  Spain  deeply  felt  their  loss,  because  of  the 
justice  and  moderation  of  their  conduct. 

These  extensive  countries  seemed  now  inevitably  lost ;  but 
the  valour  of  L.  Marcius,  a  private  officer  of  the  equestrian 
order,  preserved  them  to  the  Romans.  Soon  after,  the 
younger  Scipio  was  sent  thither,  who  severely  revenged  the 
death  of  his  father  and  uncle,  and  restored  the  affairs  of  Rome 
in  Spain  to  a  flourishing  condition. 

^  THE   AFFAIRS   IN   ITALY   RESUMED. 

One  unforeseen  defeat,  which  occurred  b.  c.  207,  ruined 
all  the  measures  and  blasted  all  the  hopes  of  Hannibal  with 
regard  to  Italy.  The  consuls  of  this  year,  which  was  the 
eleventh  of  the  second  Punic  war,  were  C.  Claudius  Nero 
and  M.  Livius.  The  latter  had  for  his  province  the  Cisalpine 
Gaul,  where  he  was  to  oppose  Asdrubal,  who  it  was  reported 
was  preparing  to  pass  the  Alps.  The  former  commanded  in 
the  country  of  the  Brutians  and  in  Lucania,  that  is,  in  the  op- 
posite extremity  of  Italy,  and  was  there  to  oppose  Hannibal. 

The  passage  of  the  Alps  gave  Asdrubal  but  little  trouble, 
because  Hannibal  had  made  his  path  clear,  and  all  the  na- 
tions were  disposed  to  receive  him.  Some  time  after  this,  he 
despatched  couriers  to  Hannibal,  but  they  were  intercepted. 
Nero  found  by  these  letters  that  Asdrubal  was  hastening  to 
join  his  brother  in  Umbria.  In  a  conjuncture  of  so  impor- 
tant a  nature  as  this,  when  the  safety  of  Rome  was  at  stake, 
he  thought  himself  at  liberty  to  dispense  with  the  established 
rules  of  his  duty ;  namely,  that  no  general  should  leave  his 
own  province  to  go  into  that  of  another. 

It  was  his  opinion,  that  a  bold  and  unexpected  blow  ought 
to  be  struck,  a  blow  which  would  strike  terror  into  the  enemy. 
Drawing  out,  therefore,  from  his  own  forces  7000  men  who 
were  the  flower  of  his  troops,  he  marched  to  join  his  col- 
league, in  order  that  they  might  charge  Asdrubal  unexpect- 
edly with  their  united  forces. 

Nero  set  out  without  giving  his  soldiers  notice  of  his  de- 
25* 


<294  THE   SECOND   PUNIC   WAR. 

sign.  When  he  had  advanced  so  far  that  it  might  be  com- 
municated without  danger,  he  told  them  that  he  was  leading 
them  to  certain  victory  ;  that  in  war,  all  things  depended 
upon  reputation  ;  that  the  bare  rumour  of  their  arrival  would 
disconcert  all  the  measures  of  the  Carthaginians ;  and  that  the 
whole  honour  of  this  battle  would  fall  to  their  lot. 

They  marched  with  extraordinary  diligence,  and  joined 
the  other  consul  in  the  night.  The  army  of  Porcius,  the 
pretor,  was  encamped  near  that  of  the  consul,  and  in  the 
morning  a  council  of  war  was  held.  Livius  was  of  opinion 
that  it  would  be  better  to  allow  the  troops  some  days  to  re- 
fresh themselves  ;  but  Nero  besought  him  not  to  ruin  by  de- 
lay an  enterprise  to  which  despatch  only  could  give  success, 
and  to  take  advantage  of  the  error  of  the  enemy,  as  well  ab- 
sent as  present.  This  advice  was  complied  with,  and  accord- 
ingly the  signal  for  battle  was  given. 

Asdrubal,  advancing  to  his  foremost  ranks,  discovered  by 
several  circumstances  that  fresh  troops  were  arrived,  and  he 
did  not  doubt  but  they  belonged  to  the  other  consul.  This 
made  him  conjecture  that  his  brother  had  sustained  a  con- 
siderable loss,  and  to  fear  that  he  was  come  too  late  to  his  as- 
sistance. Accordingly,  he  sounded  a  retreat,  and  his  army 
began  to  march  in  great  disorder.  Night  overtaking  him, 
and  his  guides  deserting  him,  he  was  uncertain  which  way 
to  go.  He  marched  at  random  along  the  banks  of  the  river 
Metaurus,  now  called  Metaro,  and  was  preparing  to  cross  it, 
when  the  three  armies  of  the  Romans  overtook  him.  In  this 
extremity,  he  saw  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  avoid  an 
engagement,  and  he  therefore  did  every  thing  which  could 
be  expected  from  the  presence  of  mind  and  the  valour  of  a 
great  captain.  The  battle  lasted  a  long  time,  and  was  obsti- 
nately disputed  by  both  parties.  Asdrubal,  especially,  sig- 
nalized himself  in  this  engagement,  and  added  reputation  to 
that  which  he  had  already  gained.  He  led  on  his  soldiers, 
trembling  and  dispirited,  against  a  superior  enemy,  animating 
them  by  his  word,  supporting  them  by  his  examples,  and  with 
entreaties  and  menaces  endeavouring  to  bring  back  those  who 
fled,  till  at  last,  seeing  that  victory  declared  for  the  Romans, 
and  being  unable  to  survive  the  loss  of  so  many  thousand 
men  who  had  quitted  their  country  to  follow  his  fortune,  he 
rushed  into  the  midst  of  a  Roman  cohort,  and  was  slain. 
Polybius  states,  that  10,000  Carthaginians  and  2000  Romans 
fell  in  this  conflict. 

Nero  set  out  upon  his  march  on  the  very  night  which  fol- 


THE   SECOND   PUNIC   WAR.  295 

lowed  the  eng-agement.  Through  every  place  where  he 
passed  in  his  return,  shouts  of  joy  and  loud  acclamations  wel- 
comed him,  instead  of  those  fears  which  his  coming  had  oc- 
casioned. He  arrived  in  the  camp  the  sixth  day.  The  head 
of  Asdrubal,  thrown  into  the  camp  of  the  Carthaginians,  in- 
formed Hannibal  of  his  brother's  unhappy  fate,  and  he  thus 
perceived  the  falling  condition  of  Carthage.  Horace  makes 
him  speak  thus,  in  the  beautiful  ode  where  this  defeat  is  de- 
scribed : — 

"  To  lofty  Carthage  I  no  more  shall  send 

Vaunts  of  my  deeds,  and  heralds  of  my  fame  j 
My  boundless  hopes  almost  are  at  an  end, 

With  all  the  flowing  fortune  of  our  name ; 
These  boundless  hopes,  that  flowing  fortune,  all 
Are  dashed  and  buried  in  my  brother's  fall." — P.  FrandS, 

These  are  fit  words  to  put  into  the  mouth  of  blighted  am- 
bition ;  they  aptly  show  the  extent  of  Hannibal's  desires,  and 
the  depth  of  his  grief  at  his  frustrated  designs.  And  when 
we  consider  that  they  are  a  faithful  paraphrase  of  the  very 
words  which  he  did  utter,  they  appear  more  strikingly  pa- 
thetic, and  better  illustrate  the  character  of  Hannibal. 

Reader,  observe  what  that  character  is.  There  is  no  la- 
menting for  his  brother's  loss,  but  as  it  affected  his  own. 
honour.  His  own  hopes  and  fortune  are  the  only  things 
which  affected  him  in  the  catastrophe :  thus  betraying  a  heart 
void  of  humanity,  and  a  soul  ambitious  alone  of  its  own 
glory.  He  could  adopt  the  words  which  Anarch  uttered  to 
Satan, — 

go  and  speed ; 


Havoc,  and  spoil,  and  ruin,  are  my  gain ;" 

but,  when  his  armies  failed,  or  he  himself  was  defeated  in  his 
designs,  like  that  fiend  who,  in  compassing  the  ruin  of  man, 
found  his  own, 

"  Struck  with  dread  and  angmsh," 
he  speaks  of 

"  Joyless  triumphs  of  his  hoped  success, 
Ruin,  and  desperation,  and  dismay,"— (MiWon.) 

to  his  followers  j  mourning  over  the  loss  of  glory,  as  for  an 
only  child. 


THE  SECOND  PUNIC  WAB. 
THE  SECOND  PUNIC  WAR  CONCLUDED. 

The  fate  of  arms  was  not  more  propitious  to  the  Carthagi- 
nians in  Spain.  The  prudent  vigour  of  young  Scipio  had 
restored  the  Roman  affairs  in  that  country  to  their  former 
prosperous  condition,  as  the  courageous  slowness  of  Fabius 
had  before  done  in  Italy.  The  three  Carthaginian  generals 
in  Spain,  Asdrubal,  son  of  Gisgo,  Hanno,  and  Mago,  having 
been  defeated  with  their  numerous  armies  by  the  Romans  in 
several  engagements,  Scipio  at  last  possessed  himself  of  the 
country,  and  subjected  it  to  the  Roman  power.  About  this 
time,  Masinissa,  a  very  powerful  African  prince,  went  over  co 
the  Romans,  and  Syphax,  on  the  contrary,  to  the  Carthagi- 
nians. 

Scipio,  on  his  return  to  Rome,  was  declared  consul,  being 
then  thirty  years  of  age.  He  had  P.  Licinus  Crassus  for  his 
colleague.  Sicily  was  allotted  to  Scipio,  with  permission  for 
him  to  cross  into  Africa,  if  he  found  it  convenient.  He  set 
out  with  all  imaginable  expedition  for  his  province  ;  whilst 
his  colleague  was  to  command  in  the  country  whither  Han- 
nibal had  retired. 

The  taking  of  New  Carthage,  where  Scipio  had  displayed 
all  the  prudence,  courage,  and  capacity,  which  could  have 
been  expected  from  sage  experience,  and  the  conquest  of  all 
Spain,  were  more  than  sufficient  to  establish  his  fame ;  but 
he  considered  these  only  as  so  many  steps  by  which  he  was 
to  climb  to  a  nobler  enterprise,  namely,  the  conquest  of  Africa. 

Scipio  repaired  to  Africa,  b.  c.  204,  by  which  step  he 
made  it  the  seat  of  war.  The  devastation  of  the  country,  the 
siege  of  Utica,  one  of  the  strongest  cities  of  Africa,  the  defeat 
of  the  armies  under  Syphax  and  Asdrubal,  and  afterwards 
the  taking  Syphax  himself  prisoner,  who  was  one  of  the  most 
powerful  supporters  the  Carthaginians  had  left, — all  these 
things  combined,  made  them  at  last  turn  their  thoughts  to 
peace.  For  this  purpose,  they  deputed  thirty  of  their  princi- 
pal senators,  who  were  selected  from  that  powerful  body  at 
Carthage,  called  the  council  of  the  Hundred. 

Being  introduced  into  the  Roman  general's  tent,  they  all 
threw  themselves  prostrate  upon  the  earth,  spoke  to  him  in 
terms  of  submission,  accused  Hannibal  as  the  author  of  all 
their  calamities,  and  promised,  in  the  name  of  the  senate,  im- 
plicit obedience  to  the  Romans.  Scipio  replied,  that  though 
he  was  come  into  Africa  for  conquest,  he  would  grant  them 
peace  upon  these  conditions :  That  they  should  deliver  up  all 


THE    SECOND    PtJNlC   WAR.  SOT 

tlie  prisoners  and  deserters  to  the  Romans ;  that  they  should 
recall  their  armies  out  of  Italy  and  Gaul ;  should  never  set 
foot  again  in  Spain  ;  should  retire  out  of  the  islands  between 
Italy  and  Africa  ;  should  deliver  up  all  their  ships,  twenty 
excepted ;  should  give  to  the  Romans  500,000  bushels  of 
wheat,  300,000  of  barley,  and  pay  15,000  talents  ;  and  that, 
in  the  event  of  their  accepting  these  conditions,  they  then 
might  send  ambassadors  to  the  senate.  The  Carthaginians 
feigned  compliance,  but  it  was  only  to  gain  time  till  Hanni- 
bal should  return.  A  truce  was  then  granted  to  the  Cartha- 
ginians, who  immediately  sent  deputies  to  Rome,  and  at  the 
same  time,  an  express  to  Hannibal  to  order  his  return  into 
Africa,     b.  c.  203. 

Hannibal  was  then  in  the  extremity  of  Italy.  Here  he  re- 
ceived the  orders  from  Carthage,  which  he  could  not  listen  to 
without  groans,  and  shedding  tears  ;  he  w^s  exasperated  al- 
most to  madness  to  see  himself  thus  forced  to  quit  his  prey. 
Never  did  a  banished  man  show  such  regret  at  leaving  his 
native  country,  as  Hannibal  did  in  departing  from  that  of  an 
enemy.  He  often  turned  his  eyes  towards  Italy,  accusing 
gods  and  men  of  his  misfortunes,  and  calling  down  impreca- 
tions, says  Livy,  upon  himself,  for  not  having  marched  his 
soldiers  directly  to  Rome,  after  the  battle  of  Cannae,  whilst 
yet  the  swords  of  his  soldiers  were  still  reeking  with  the  blood 
of  its  citizens. 

At  Rome,  the  senate,  dissatisfied  with  the  excuses  made  by 
the  Carthaginian  deputies,  in  justification  of  their  republic, 
and  the  ridiculous  offer  which  they  made  in  its  name  of  ad- 
hering to  the  treaty  of  Lutatius,  thought  proper  to  refer  the 
decision  of  the  whole  to  Scipio,  who,  being  on  the  spot,  could 
best  judge  what  conditions  the  welfare  of  the  state  required. 

About  the  same  time,  Octavius,  the  pretor,  sailing  from 
Sicily  into  Africa  with  200  vessels  of  burden,  was  overtaken 
near  Carthage  by  a  furious  storm,  which  dispersed  all  his 
fleet.  The  citizens  could  not  endure  the  thought  of  so  rich 
a  prey  escaping  their  hand,  and  therefore  they  demanded  that 
the  Carthaginian  fleet  might  sail  out  and  seize  it.  The 
senate,  after  a  faint  resistance,  complied ;  and  Asdrubal  sail- 
ing out  of  harbour,  seized  the  greatest  part  of  the  Roman 
ships,  and  brought  them  to  Carthage,  although  the  truce  was 
still  subsisting. 

Scipio  sent  deputies  to  Carthage  to  complain  of  this  out- 
rage ;  but  they  were  disregaded.  The  arrival  of  Hannibal 
had  revived  their  courage,  and  again  inspired  them  with  hope. 


298  THE   SECOND   PUNIC   WAR. 

The  deputies  were  even  in  great  danger  of  being  ill-freated 
by  the  populace.  They  therefore  demanded  a  convoy,  which 
was  granted  them  ;  but  the  magistrates,  who  were  determined 
on  the  renewal  of  the  war,  gave  private  orders  to  Asdrubal, 
who  was  with  the  fleet  near  Utica,  to  attack  the  Roman 
galley  when  it  should  arrive  in  the  river  Bragada,  near  the 
Homan  camp,  where  the  convoy  was  to  leave  them,  Asd 
rubal  obeyed  the  order,  and  sent  out  two  galleys  against  the 
ambassadors  ;  but  he  did  not  succeed  in  his  treacherous  de- 
signs. 

This  was  a  fresh  subject  for  war  between  the  two  states. 
They  were  more  exasperated  against  each  other  than  ever, 
the  Romans  from  a  desire  of  avenging  themselves  for  such 
perfidy,  the  Carthaginians  from  a  persuasion  that  they  could 
not  now  expect  a  peace. 

We  may  here  mention,  that  this  trait  in  the  character  of 
the  Carthaginians  was  one  of  the  most  usual  and  evil  results 
of  ancient  paganism.  There  was  no  bond  in  its  varied  sys 
terns  to  bind  men  together  in  honesty  of  purpose.  Some  of 
those  systems,  indeed,  taught  that  treachery  was  a  necessary 
evil,  in  order  to  obtain  a  certain  good.  Hence,  actions, 
which  man,  taught  only  by  the  taper  light  of  reason,  would 
shudder  to  commit,  were  committed  without  compunction, 
and  frequently  with  a  belief  that  the  deed  was  a  virtue.  The 
same  bitter  fruits  result  from  modern  paganism.  But  how 
differently  are  we  taught  by  the  Christian  system  of  moral 
duties.  In  the  Bible,  "  precept  upon  precept,"  "  line  upon 
line,"  teaches  us  to  speak  the  truth,  to  avoid  deceit,  and  to  act 
at  all  times  towards  our  fellow-man  under  this  impression : 
"  Thou  God  seest  me ;"  and  it  denounces  woes  upon  those 
who,  blessed  with  this  light,  act  in  opposition  to  it.  How 
ought  we,  then,  to  prize  the  Bible,  and  to  esteem  it  as  the 
source  of  true  knowledge,  which  points  our  way  to  heaven  as 
with  a  sunbeam  t 

At  the  same  time,  Laelius  and  Fulvius,  who  carried  the 
full  powers  with  which  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome  had 
invested  Scipio,  arrived  in  the  camp,  accompanied  by  the 
deputies  from  Carthage.  As  the  Carthaginians  had  not  only 
infringed  the  truce,  but  violated  the  law  of  nations  in  the  per- 
sons of  the  ambassadors,  it  might  have  been  expectexi  that 
their  deputies  would  have  been  seized  by  way  of  reprisal : 
Scipio,  however,  attentive  to  the  Roman  honour,  dismissed 
them  without  injury.  This  act  in  moderation,  at  such  a  junc- 
ture, shamed  and  terrified  the  Carthaginians,  and  made  even 


THE   SECOND  PUNIC   WAR.  S99 

Hapnibal  himself  entertain  admiration  of  a  general  who,  to 
the  dishonourable  practices  of  his  enemies,  opposed  only  a 
rectitude  and  greatness  of  soul  that  was  more  worthy  of  ad- 
miration than  all  his  military  virtues. 

Hannibal,  in  the  mean  time,  importuned  by  his  fellow-citi- 
zens, advanced  into  the  country,  and  arrived  at  Zama,  which 
is  five  days'  march  from  Carthage,  he  there  pitched  his  camp. 
From  thence  he  sent  out  spies  to  observe  the  position  of  the 
Romans.  Scipio  having  seized  these,  instead  of  punishing 
them,  commanded  them  to  be  led  about  the  Roman  camp,  in 
order  that  they  might  make  close  observation,  and  then  they 
were  sent  back  to  Hannibal.  The  latter  knew  whence  so 
bold  an  assurance  flowed.  After  the  many  reverses  he  had 
met  with,  he  no  longer  expected  that  fortune  would  again, 
smile  upon  him ;  whilst  every  one,  therefore,  was  exciting 
him  to  battle,  the  destroyer  of  nations  himself  meditated  only 
peace.  But  it  was  his  own  glory  still  that  he  sought.  He 
flattered  himself  that  the  conditions  of  it  would  be  more 
honourable,  as  he  was  at  the  head  of  an  army,  and  as  the 
fate  of  arms  might  still  appear  uncertain.  Guided  by  these 
motives,  Hannibal  sent  to  desire  an  interview  with  Scipio, 
which  was  complied  with,  and  the  time  and  place  fixed. 

When  these  two  generals  met,  they  continued  for  some 
time  in  deep  silence,  as  though  astonished,  and  struck  with  a 
mutual  admiration  of  each  other.  At  length  Hannibal  spoke, 
and  after  having  praised  Scipio  in  the  most  artful  and  delicate 
manner,  he  gave  a  hvely  description  of  the  ravages  of  war, 
and  the  calamities  in  which  it  had  involved  both  the  victors 
and  the  vanquished.  He  conjured  him  not  to  be  dazzled  by 
the  splendour  of  his  victories.  He  represented  to  him,  that 
though  he  might  hitherto  have  been  successful,  he  ought  to 
be  aware  of  the  inconstancy  of  fortune  ;  that  he  hiniself  was 
a  proof  of  what  he  advanced  ;  that  Scipio  was  at  time  what 
Hannibal  had  been  at  Thrasymenus  and  Cannse ;  that  he 
ought  to  make  a  better  use  of  opportunity  than  he  himself  had 
done,  by  consenting  to  a  peace,  of  which  it  was  in  his  power 
to  propose  the  conditions.  Hannibal  concluded  with  declar- 
ing, that  the  Carthaginians  would  willingly  resign  Sicily, 
Sardinia,  Spain,  and  all  the  islands  between  Africa  and  Italy, 
to  the  Romans ;  that  they  must  be  forced,  since  such  was  the 
will  of  the  gods,  to  confine  themselves  to  Africa,  whilst  they 
should  see  the  Romans  extending  their  conquests  to  the  most 
remote  regions,  and  obliging  all  nations  to  pay  obedience  to 
their  laws. 


300  THE    SECOND    PUNIC    WAR, 

Scipio  replied  in  a  few  words,  but  not  with  less  dignity. 
He  reproached  the  Carthaginians  for  their  perfidy,  in  plun- 
dering the  Roman  galleys  before  the  truce  was  expired.  He 
imputed  to  them  alone,  and  to  their  injustice,  all  the  calami- 
ties with  which  the  two  wars  had  been  attended.  After 
thanking  Hannibal  for  the  admonition  he  had  given  him^ 
with  regard  to  the  uncertainty  of  human  events,  he  concluded 
with  desiring  him  to  prepare  for  battle,  unless  he  chose  rather 
to  accept  of  the  conditions  proposed,  to  which,  he  observed, 
some  others  would  be  added,  in  order  to  punish  the  Carthagi- 
nians for  their  violation  of  the  truce. 

Hannibal  could  not  prevail  upon  himself  to  accept  these 
conditions,  and  the  generals  left  one  another  with  the  resolu- 
tion of  deciding  the  fate  of  Carthage  by  a  general  battle. 
Each  commander  exhorted  his  troops  to  fight  valiantly, 
Hannibal  dwelt  upon  the  victories  he  had  gained  over  the 
Romans,  the  generals  he  had  slain,  the  armies  he  had  annihi- 
lated. Scipio  represented  to  his  soldiers  the  conquests  of 
toth  the  Spains,  his  successes  in  Africa,  and  the  confession 
their  enemies  themselves  had  made,  by  the  fact  of  coming  to 
sue  for  peace.  All  this  he  spoke  with  the  tone  and  air  of  a 
conqueror.  Never  were  motives  more  powerful  to  prompt 
troops  to  behave  gallantly.  This  day  was  to  complete  the 
glory  of  the  one  or  the  other  of  the  generals,  and  to  decide 
whether  Rome  or  Carthage  was  to  prescribe  laws  to  all  other 
nations. 

It  would  be  needless  to  dwell  upon  the  circumstances  of 
the  battle.  The  reader  will  naturally  conclude  that  each 
strove  ardently  for  the  victory  ;  and  that  two  such  experienced 
generals  did  not  forget  any  circumstance  which  would  contri- 
bute to  secure  it  to  themselves.  But  it  was  vain  on  the  part 
of  Hannibal ;  thousands  of  the  Carthaginians  Avere  slain,  and 
a  great  number  of  prisoners  taken.  Hannibal  escaped  in  the 
tumult,  and  entering  Carthage,  owned  that  he  was  conquered, 
and  declared  that  the  citizens  had  no  other  choice  left  than  to 
accept  peace  upon  Scipio's  conditions. 

Scipio  bestowed  high  eulogiums  on  Hannibal,  with  regard 
to  his  ability  in  taking  advantages,  his  manner  of  drawing 
out  his  army  and  giving  out  his  orders;  and  he  affirmed  that 
Hannibal  had  this  day  surpassed  himself  in  the  art  of  war. 
With  regard  to  himself,  he  well  knew  how  to  make  a  proper 
advantage  of  the  victory,  and  the  consternation  which  pre- 
vailed among  the  Carthaginians.     He  commanded  one  of  his 


THE    SECOND   PUNIC    WAR.  801 

lieutenants  to  march  his  land  army  to  Carthage,  whilst  he 
prepared  to  conduct  the  fleet  thither. 

He  was  not  far  from  the  city,  when  he  met  a  vessel  covered 
with  streamers  and  olive  branches,  bringing  ten  of  the  most 
considerable  persons  of  the  state  as  ambassadors,  to  implore 
his  clemency.  These  he  dismissed,  bidding  them  to  come  to 
him  at  Tunis,  where  he  should  halt.  The  duputies,  thirty  in 
number,  came  to  him  at  the  place  appointed,  and  sued  for 
peace  in  the  most  submissive  terms.  Scipio  then  called  a 
council,  the  majority  of  which  were  for  razing  Carthage,  and 
treating  the  inhabitants  with  the  utmost  severity.  But  the 
consideration  of  the  time  which  it  must  necessarily  take  to 
capture  a  city  so  strongly  fortified,  and  fearing  a  successor 
might  be  appointed  whilst  he  should  be  employed  in  the 
siege,  made  Scipio  incline  to  mercy,  and  he  granted  their 
petition. 

The  conditions  of  the  peace  dictated  by  Scipio  to  the  Car- 
thaginians were — That  the  Carthaginians  should  continue 
free,  and  preserve  their  laws,  their  territories,  and  the  cities 
they  possessed  in  Africa  before  the  war — that  they  should  de- 
liver up  to  the  Romans  all  deserters,  slaves  and  prisoners  be- 
longing to  them  ;  all  their  ships,  except  ten  triremes ;  all  the 
elephants  which  they  then  had,  and  that  they  should  not  train 
up  any  more  for  war — that  they  should  not  make  war  out  of 
Africa,  nor  even  in  that  country,  without  fi^rst  obtaining  leave 
of  the  Romans — should  restore  to  Masinissa  every  thing  of 
which  they  had  dispossessed  either  him  or  his  ancestors — 
should  furnish  money  and  corn  to  the  Roman  auxiliaries,  till 
their  ambassadors  should  be  returned  from  Rome — should 
pay  to  the  Romans  10,000  Euboic  talents  of  silver  in  fifty 
annual  payments  (that  is,  about  1,750,000/.) — and  give  100 
hostages,  who  should  be  nominated  by  Scipio.  And  in  order 
that  they  might  have  time  to  send  to  Rome,  he  agreed  to 
grant  them  a  truce,  upon  condition  that  they  should  restore 
the  ships  taken  during  the  former  war,  without  which  they 
were  not  to  expect  either  a  truce  or  a  peace. 

When  the  deputies  were  returned  to  Carthage,  they  laid 
before  the  senate  the  conditions  dictated  by  Scipio.  But  they 
appeared  so  intolerable  to  Gisgo,  that,  in  a  speech,  he  en- 
deavoured to  dissuade  the  citizens  from  accepting  a  peace 
upon  such  humiliating  terms.  Hannibal,  provoked  at  the 
calmness  with  which  such  an  orator  was  heard,  took  Gisgo 
by  the  arm,  and  dragged  him  from  his  seat.  A  behaviour  so 
outrageous,  and  so  remote  from  the  manners  of  a  free  city 

VOL.  u.  26 


302  THE  SECOND   PUNIC   WAR. 

like  Carthage,  raised  a  universal  murmur.  Haijnibal  him- 
self was  vexed  when  he  reflected  upon  what  he  had  done, 
and  immediately  made  an  apology.  "  As  I  left,"  says  he, 
"  your  city  at  nine  years  of  age,  and  did  not  return  to  it  till 
after  thirty-six  years'  absence,  I  had  full  leisure  to  leave  the 
arts  of  war,  and  flatter  myself  that  I  have  made  some  improve- 
ment in  them.  As  for  your  laws  and  customs,  it  is  no  wonder 
I  am  ignorant  of  them,  and  I  therefore  desire  you  to  instruct 
me  in  them."  He  then  expatiated  on  the  indispensable 
necessity  of  peace  ;  and  he  added,  that  they  ought  to  thank 
the  gods  for  having  prompted  the  Romans  to  grant  them  a 
peace  even  upon  these  conditions.  After  he,  further,  had 
pointed  out  to  them  the  necessity  of  a  unity  of  opinion  on  this 
subject,  the  whole  city  came  over  to  his  views  ;  peace  was  ac- 
cepted ;  satisfaction  made  to  Scipio  with  regard  to  the  ships 
reclaimed  by  him ;  a  truce  obtained  for  three  months ;  and 
ambassadors  were  sent  to  Rome. 

When  these  ambassadors  arrived  at  Rome,  they  were  im- 
mediately admitted  to  an  audience.  Asdrubal,  surnamed 
Hoedus,  who  was  still  an  irreconcilable  enemy  to  Hannibal 
and  his  faction,  spoke  first ;  and  after  having  excused,  to  the 
best  of  his  power,  the  people  of  Carthage,  by  imputing  the 
rupture  to  the  ambition  of  some  particular  persons,  he  added, 
that,  had  the  Carthaginians  listened  to  his  counsels  and  those 
of  Hanno,  they  would  have  been  able  to  grant  to  the  Romans 
the  peace  which  they  now  dictated  to  the  Carthaginians. 
"  But,"  continued  he,  "  wisdom  and  prosperity  are  very  rarely 
found  together.  The  Romans  are  invincible,  because  they 
never  suffer  themselves  to  be  blinded  by  good  fortune.  And 
it  would  be  surprising  should  they  act  otherwise.  Success 
dazzles  those  only  to  whom  it  is  new  and  unusual ;  whereas 
the  Romans  are  so  much  accustomed  to  conquer,  that  they  are 
almost  insensible  to  the  charms  of  victory;  and  it  may  be 
said,  to  their  glory,  that  they  have  extended  their  empire,  in 
some  measure,  more  by  the  humanity  they  have  shown  to  the 
conquered,  than  by  the  conquest  itself."  The  other  ambassa- 
dors spoke  in  a  more  plaintive  tone,  and  represented  the 
calamitous  state  to  which  Carthage  was  going  to  be  reduced, 
and  the  grandeur  and  power  from  which  it  had  fallen. 

The  senate  and  people  being  equally  inclined  to  peace, 
sent  full  power  to  Scipio  to  conclude  it,  left  the  conditions  to 
that  general,  and  permitted  him  to  return  to  Rome.  The 
ambassadors  desired  leave  to  enter  the  city,  to  redeem  some 
of  their  prisoners,  and  they  found  about  200  whom  they  de- 


THE   SECOND   PUNIC   WAR.  303 

sired  to  ransom.  These  the  senate  sent  to  Scipio,  with  orders 
that  they  should  be  restored  without  any  pecuniary  considera- 
tion, should  a  peace  be  concluded. 

On  the  return  of  their  ambassadors,  the  Carthaginians  con- 
cluded a  peace  with  Scipio  ;  after  which,  they  delivered  up 
to  him  more  than  500  ships,  which  he  burned  in  the  sight  of 
Carthage.  The  allies  of  the  Latin  name,  and  the  Roman 
citizens  who  were  delivered  up  to  him  as  deserters,  were  put 
to  death,  after  the  manner  of  the  ancients. 

When  the  time  for  the  first  payment  of  the  tribute  arrived, 
as  the  funds  of  the  government  were  exhausted,  the  difficulty 
of  levying  the  sum  required  was  great.  This  threw  the 
senate  into  deep  affliction,  and  many  could  not  refrain  tears. 
Hannibal,  on  this  occasion,  is  said  to  have  laughed,  and  when 
he  was  reproached  by  Asdrubal  Hoedus,  for  thus  insulting 
his  country,  in  the  affliction  which  he  had  brought  upon  it : 
"  Were  it  possible,"  he  replied,  "  for  my  heart  to  be  seen,  and 
that  as  clearly  as  my  countenance,  you  would  then  find,  that 
this  laughter,  which  offends  so  much,  flows  not  from  an  in- 
temperate joy,  but  from  a  mind  almost  distracted  with  the  public 
calamities.  But  is  this  laughter  more  unseasonable  than  your 
unbecoming  tears  ?  Then,  then  ought  you  to  have  wept,  when 
your  arms  were  ingloriously  taken  from  you,  your  ships 
burned,  and  you  were  forbidden  to  engage  in  foreign  wars. 
This  was  the  mortal  blow  which  laid  us  prostrate.  We  are 
sensible  of  the  public  calamity,  so  far  only  as  we  have  a  per- 
sonal concern  in  it ;  and  the  loss  of  our  money  gives  us  the 
most  pungent  sorrow.  Hence  it  was,  that  when  our  city  was 
made  the  spoil  of  the  victor;  when  it  was  left  disarmed  and 
defenceless  amidst  so  many  powerful  nations  of  Africa,  who 
had  at  that  time  taken  the  field,  not  a  groan,  not  a  sigh,  was 
heard.  But  now,  when  you  are  called  on  to  contribute  indivi- 
dually to  the  tax  imposed  upon  the  state,  you  bewail  and 
lament  as  if  all  were  lost.  Alas  !  I  only  wish,  that  the  sub- 
ject of  this  day's  grief  may  not  soon  appear  to  you  the  least  of 
all  your  misfortunes." 

This  is  a  remarkable  instance  of  the  power  of  covetousness. 
Here  are  men  of  reverend  years,  and  renowned  for  their 
gravity  and  wisdom,  sitting  down  in  sorrow  and  weeping  like 
infants  for  the  loss  of  their  wealth.  They  had  suffered 
greater  losses  before ;  their  sons  had  been  demanded  of  them 
their  arms  taken  away,  and  their  fleet  destroyed,  all  of  which 
calamities  they  bore  with  resignation.  But  now  when  their 
money  is  required  at  their  hands,  it  calls  forth  the  deepest 


304  THE    SECOND   PUNIC   WAR. 

vexation  of  spirit.  Truly  has  the  apostle  observed,  that, 
"  The  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil,"  1  Tim.  vi.  10. 
When  it  has  gained  the  ascendancy  over  the  minds  of  men, 
it  leads  to  crime  and  folly  ;  and  it  brings  down  ruin  upon  na- 
tions, families,  and  individuals.  This  we  J  earn  not  only  from 
the  pages  of  profane,  but  of  sacred  history,  and  indeed  from 
our  own  personal  observation.  The  pages  of  Holy  Writ  ex- 
hibit this  vice  to  our  view  in  its  true  light.  They  describe  it, 
as  having  thrown  the  world  generally  into  a  state  of  infidel 
distrust  of  Divine  Providence,  and  of  dissatisfaction  with  the 
Divine  allotments ;  to  the  truth  of  which,  the  history  of 
ancient  heathen  nations  bears  its  testimony  ;  for  they  neither 
prayed  to  their  gods  nor  laboured  themselves  for  any  other 
than  temporal  blessings,  as  their  prayers  and  hymns  abun- 
dantly show.  Those  hallowed  pages,  again,  speak  of  cove- 
tousness,  as  actuating  and  debasing  the  character  of  an  entire 
people,  as  the  Israelites,  Tyrians,  and  Chaldeans.  They  de- 
nounce it  as  leading  to  deceit,  bribery,  and  injustice  ;  and  to 
some  of  the  foulest  acts  and  most  fearful  results  that  have 
stained  the  history  of  man  public  and  private  life.  They 
speak  of  it  as  subversive  of  the  threefold  law  of  Christian 
duty,  personal,  social,  and  Divine ;  as  being  intimately  con- 
nected with  all  vices ;  as  destroying  the  bodies  and  souls  of 
individuals,  as  Ananias,  Sapphira,  and  Demas.  Finally, 
they  identify  covetousness  with  idolatry,  and  speak  of  it  as 
one  of  the  characteristics  of  the  final  apostacy  of  man  from 
God.  Its  effects  are  seen  daily  in  our  own  social  circles. 
There  we  learn  somewhat  of  its  soul-withering  influence ;  for 
the  cry  of  the  world  at  large  is,  "  Who  will  show  us  any 
good  ?"  to  the  utter  neglect  of  the  "  one  thing  needful ;"  thus 
showing,  that  the  heart  of  man  by  nature  is  prone  in  modern 
as  in  ancient  times  to  hew  unto  itself  idols  of  gold  and  silver. 
Great  need  is  there,  therefore,  for  our  Lord's  caution :  "  Take 
heed,  and  beware  of  covetousness,"   Luke  xii.  15. 

We  conclude  this  section  of  our  history.  Scipio,  after  all 
his  affairs  were  settled,  embarked  for  Rome.  He  arrived 
there  safely,  (b.  c.  201,)  and  the  most  magnificent  triumph 
that  Rome  had  ever  seen  was  decreed  him  :  and  the  surname 
of  Africanus  was  bestowed  upon  him ;  an  honour  till  then 
unknown,  no  person  before  having  assumed  the  name  of  a 
vanquished  nation. 

Thus  ended  the  second  Punic  war :  a  war  in  which  all 
the  bad  passions  of  human  nature  are  made  manifest  in  all  its 
stages.     To  the  Christian  reader,  it  affords  a  melancholy  pic- 


THE   SECOND   PUNIC   WAR.  805 

ture  of  the  human  heart.  It  causes  him  to  reflect  on  the  once 
happy  state  of  man,  when  there  were  no  jarring  elements  in 
his  nature  ;  no  desire  of  strife,  no  ambition,  no  love  of  glory, 
no  revenge ;  when  he  held  converse  with  angels  and  with 
God,  and  was  at  rest.  But  while  he  sighs  over  the  fallen  na- 
ture of  man,  and  his  descent  from  so  happy  a  state,  he  may 
look  forward  to  his  recovery.  The  sure  word  of  prophecy 
unfolds  an  era  when  swords  shall  be  turned  into  plough- 
shares, and  spears  into  pruning  hooks;  when  "nation 
shall  not  lift  up  a  sword  against  nation,  neither  shall  they 
learn  war  any  more,"  Isa.  ii.  4 ;  Mic.  iv.  3.  In  that  day, 
to  adopt  the  figurative  language  of  Scripture,  which  sets  forth 
in  glowing  terms  this  changed  nature  of  man,  "  The  wolf 
also  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard  shall  lie  down 
with  the  kid  ;  and  the  calf  and  the  young  lion  and  the  fatling 
together  ;  and  a  little  child  shall  lead  them.  And  the  cow 
and  the  bear  shall  feed ;  their  young  ones  shall  lie  down  to- 
gether :  and  the  lion  shall  eat  straw  like  the  ox.  And  the 
sucking  child  shall  play  on  the  hole  of  the  asp,  and  the 
weaned  child  shall  put  his  hand  on  the  cockatrice'  den. 
They  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all"  God's  "  holy  moun- 
tain," Isa.  xi.  6 — 9. 

This  glorious  era  will  be  the  result  of  the  universal  spread 
of  the  gospel  of  peace.  Mankind,  then,  will  own  the  gentle 
sway  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Yes,  the  Man  of  sorrows 
who  once  trod  this  earth  as  a  stranger  acquainted  with  grief, 
and  who  ended  his  life  by  an  ignominious  death  upon  the 
cross,  shall  one  day  "  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  shall 
be  satisfied," — shall  one  day  reign  victorious  in  and  over  the 
hearts  of  all  men.  The  blood  that  he  shed  was  for  the  "  heal- 
ing of  the  nationsf"  He  saw  them  from  on  high  striving 
with  their  Maker  and  with  each  other  in  the  deadly  conflict, 
and,  pitying  them,  left  his  Father's  throne  to  reconcile  them 
unto  God  and  to  themselves ;  for  he  who  loveth  God,  loveth 
his  brother  also,  and  a  Christian  looks  upon  all  mankind  as 
his  brethren.  This  will  be  one  of  the  most  glorious  results 
of  the  cross  and  passion  of  the  Redeemer.  Man  thereby  will 
be  restored  to  peace  with  God  and  man — to  that  happy  state 
which  he  enjoyed  when  first  he  came  from  the  hands  of  his 
Creator.  Well,  therefore,  may  we  take  up  the  language  of 
the  poet,  and  say: 

"  Come,  then,  and  added  to  Thy  many  crowns, 
Receive  yet  one,  the  crown  of  all  the  earth, 
Thou  who  alone  art  worthy !  It  was  thine 
26* 


306  THE  INTERVAL   BETWEEN 

By  ancient  covenant,  ere  Nature's  birth ; 
And  thou  hast  made  it  thine  by  purchase  since, 
And  overpaid  its  value  with  thy  blood." — Cowper. 

THE    INTERVAX,    BETWEEN   THE    SECOND   AND    THIRD 
PXmiC    WARS. 

This  interval,  including  about  fifty  years,  that  is,  from  b.  c. 
201,  to  B.  c.  149,  is  very  little  remarkable  as  to  the  events 
which  relate  to  Carthage.  They  may  be  reduced  to  two  sub- 
jects ;  the  one  relating  to  the  person  of  Hannibal,  and  the 
other  to  some  particular  differences  between  the  Carthagi- 
nians and  Masinissa.  king  of  the  Numidians. 

Concerning  the  former,  whose  history  includes  the  space 
of  twenty-five  years,  and  of  whom  we  shall  speak  in  this  di- 
vision, the  following  information  has  been  handed  down  to  us. 
After  the  conclusion  of  the  peace,  Hannibal  at  first  was  great- 
ly respected  in  Carthage,  and  he  filled  the  first  employments 
of  the  state  with  honour  and  applause.  He  headed,  also,  the 
Carthaginian  forces  in  some  wars  against  the  Africans  ;  but 
the  Romans,  to  whom  his  very  name  gave  uneasiness, 
made  complaints  on  that  account,  and  he  was  recalled  to  Car- 
thage. 

On  his  return,  he  was  appointed  pretor,  which  seems  to 
have  been  a  very  honourable  dignity,  and  to  have  con- 
ferred great  authority.  Carthage,  therefore,  we  shall  see, 
with  regard  to  him,  w'as  a  new  theatre  on  which  he  displayed 
qualities  of  a  different  nature  to  those  he  unfolded  in  the  field 
of  battle,  and  which  Avill  finish  his  portraiture,  and  in  some 
measure  redeem  his  character. 

Eagerly  desirous  of  restoring  the  affairs  of  his  afflicted 
country  to  their  former  prosperous  condition,  he  was  per- 
suaded that  the  two  most  powerful  methods  to  make  a  state 
flourish,  were,  an  exact  and  equal  distribution  of  justice  to  its 
subjects  in  general,  and  scrupulous  fidelity  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  public  finances.  The  former,  by  observing  an 
equality  among  the  citizens,  and  making  them  enjoy  such  an 
undisturbed  liberty,  under  the  protection  of  the  laws,  as  fully 
secures  their  honour,  their  lives,  and  properties,  unites  the  in- 
dividuals of  the  commonwealth  more  closely  together,  and  at- 
taches them  more  firmly  to  the  state,  to  which  they  owe  the 
preservation  of  all  that  is  most  dear  and  valuable  to  them. 
The  latter,  by  a  faithful  administration  of  the  public  revenues, 
supplies  punctually  the  several  wants  and  necessities  of  the 
state ;  keeps  in  reserve  a  never  failing  resource  for  sudden 


THE    SECOND  AND   THIRD   PUNIC   WARS.  307 

emergencies ;  and  prevents  the  people  from  being  burdened 
by  new  taxes,  which  are  rendered  necessary  by  extrava- 
gant profusion,  and  which  produce  disaffection  to  the  govern- 
ment. 

Hannibal  saw,  with  great  concern,  the  irregularities  which 
had  crept  equally  into  the  administration  of  justice,  and  the 
management  of  the  finances.  Upon  his  being  nominated 
pretor,  he  had  the  courage  to  attempt  the  reformation  of  this 
double  abuse,  without  dreading  either  the  animosity  of  the 
old  faction  that  opposed  him,  or  the  new  enmity  which  his 
zeal  for  the  republic  must  necessarily  draw  upon  him. 

The  judges  exercised  the  most  flagrant  extortion  with  im- 
punity. They  were  so  many  petty  tyrants,  who  disposed  in 
an  arbitrary  manner  of  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  the  citizens, 
without  the  least  possibility  of  a  stop  being  put  to  their  injus- 
tice, because  they  held  their  commissions  for  life,  and  mutual- 
ly supported  one  another.  Hannibal,  as  pretor,  summoned 
before  his  tribunal  an  officer  belonging  to  the  bench  of  judges 
who  openly  abused  his  power.  This  officer,  who  was  of  the 
opposite  faction  to  Hannibal,  and  had  assumed  all  the  haugh- 
tiness of  the  judges,  among  whom  he  was  to  be  admitted  at 
the  expiration  of  his  present  office,  insolently  refused  to  obey 
the  summons.  Hannibal  was  not  of  a  disposition  to  suffer  an 
affront  of  this  nature  to  pass  by  unnoticed  ;  he  caused  him  to 
be  seized  by  a  lictor,  and  brought  before  an  assembly  of  the 
people,  when  he  impeached  the  whole  bench  of  judges,  whose 
pride  was  not  to  be  restrained  either  by  fear  of  the  laws,  or  a 
reverence  for  the  magistrates.  Hannibal,  perceiving  that  he 
was  heard  with  pleasure,  proposed  a  law,  by  which  it  was  en- 
acted, that  new  judges  should  be  chosen  annually  ;  with  a 
clause  that  none  should  continue  in  office  beyond  that  term. 
This  law,  at  the  same  time  that  it  obtained  for  him  the  friend- 
ship of  the  people  at  large,  drew  upon  him  the  hatred  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  influential  citizens. 

Hannibal  attempted  another  reformation,  which  created  him 
new  enemies,  but  gained  him  great  honour.  The  public  re- 
venues were  either  squandered  by  the  negligence  of  those 
who  had  the  management  of  them,  or  were  plundered  by  the 
chief  men  of  the  city  and  the  magistrates  ;  so  that  money  be- 
ing wanting  to  pay  the  annual  tribute  due  to  the  Romans,  the 
Carthaginians  were  going  to  levy  it  upon  the  people  at  large. 
Hannibal,  entering  into  a  long  detail  of  the  public  revenues, 
ordered  an  exact  estimate  to  be  laid  before  him  ;  inquired  in 
what  manner  they  had  been  applied  ;  the  employments,  and 


808  THE  INTERVAL   BETWEEN 

ordinary  expenses  of  the  state:  and  having  discovered  by 
this  inquiry,  that  the  public  funds  had  been  in  a  great 
measure  embezzled  by  the  fraud  of  the  officers  who  had  the 
management  of  them,  he  declared  that,  without  laying  any 
new  taxes  upon  the  people,  the  republic  should  hereafter  be 
enabled  to  pay  the  tribute  to  the  Romans.  The  farmers  of 
the  revenues,  whose  rapine  he  had  detected,  having  accus- 
tomed themselves  hitherto  to  fatten  upon  the  spoils  of  their 
country,  declaimed  vehemently  against  these  regulations,  as  if 
their  own  property  had  been  taken  from  them,  and  not  that 
belonging  to  the  state. 

This  double  reformation  of  abuses  raised  great  clamours 
against  Hannibal,  and  was  the  cause  of  his  ruin.  His  ene- 
mies were  incessantly  writing  to  the  chief  men,  or  their  friends, 
at  Rome,  to  inform  them  that  he  was  carrying  on  a  secret  in- 
tercourse with  Antiochus,  king  of  Syria ;  that  he  frequently 
received  couriers  from  him ;  and  that  this  prince  had  privately 
despatched  agents  to  Hannibal,  to  concert  measures  for  pro- 
ceeding with  the  war  he  was  meditating ;  that  as  some  ani- 
mals are  so  fierce  that  they  cannot  be  tamed,  in  like  manner 
Hannibal  was  of  so  turbulent  and  implacable  a  spirit,  that 
he  could  ill  brook  ease,  and  sooner  or  later  would  breathe 
war  again.  These  reports  were  listened  to  at  Rome  ;  and 
as  the  transactions  of  the  preceding  war  had  been  begun  and 
carried  on  almost  solely  by  Hannibal,  they  appeared  the  more 
probable.  Scipio,  however,  strenuously  opposed  the  measures 
which  the  senate  meditated  taking  against  Hannibal,  on  re- 
ceiving this  intelligence.  He  represented  that  it  was  deroga- 
tory to  the  dignity  of  the  Roman  people,  to  countenance  the 
hatred  and  accusations  of  Hannibal's  enemies ;  to  support, 
with  their  authority,  their  unjust  passions ;  and  obstinately 
to  persecute  him  even  in  the  very  heart  of  his  country ;  as 
though  the  Romans  had  not  humbled  him  sufficiently,  in 
driving  him  out  of  the  field,  and  forcing  him  to  lay  down 
his  arms. 

But,  notwithstanding  these  prudent  remonstrances,  the  sen- 
ate appointed  three  commissioners  to  go  and  make  their  com- 
plaints to  Carthage,  and  to  demand  that  Hannibal  should  be 
delivered  up  to  them.  On  their  arrival  in  that  city,  though 
other  motives  were  pretended  as  the  cause  of  their  mission, 
Hannibal  was  sensible  that  he  himself  was  required.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  the  evening,  he  quitted  Carthage,  and  retreated 
on  board  a  ship  which  he  had  secretly  provided  for  his  own 


THE   SECOND   AND   THIRD   PUNIC    WARS.  309 

escape ;  on  which  occasion,  contrary  to  his  usual  wont,  he 
bewailed  the  fate  of  his  country  more  than  his  own. 

This  was  the  eighth  year  after  the  conclusion  of  the  peace, 
or  B.  c.  193.  The  first  place  Hannibal  landed  at  was  Tyre, 
where  he  was  received  with  great  honours.  After  staying 
some  days  here,  he  set  out  for  Antioch,  the  capital  of  Syria, 
which  the  king  had  lately  left ;  and  from  thence  he  waited 
upon  him  at  Ephesus,  a  city  of  Asia  Minor,  and  one  of  the 
twelve  of  the  Ionian  confederation.  The  arrival  of  so  re- 
nowned a  general  gave  great  pleasure  to  the  king,  and  con- 
tributed to  settle  him  in  his  resolution  to  engage  in  war 
against  Rome. 

The  Carthaginians,  justly  fearing  that  Hannibal's  escape 
would  draw  upon  them  the  arms  of  the  Romans,  informed 
them  that  he  had  fled  to  Antiochus.  They  also,  according 
to  Cornehus  Nepos,  sent  two  ships  to  pursue  him,  sold  his 
goods,  destroyed  his  house,  and,  by  a  public  decree,  declared 
him  an  exile. 

The  Romans  were  much  disturbed  at  the  circumstance, 
and  had  Antiochus  made  a  prompt  use  of  their  alarm,  he 
might  have  turned  it  to  his  own  advantage.  The  first  advice 
that  Hannibal  gave  that  monarch,  and  which  he  frequently 
repeated  afterwards,  was  to  make  Italy  the  seat  of  war.  For 
this  purpose,  he  required  100  ships,  and  11,000  or  12,000 
land  forces,  and  he  offered  to  take  upon  himself  the  command 
of  the  fleet,  to  cross  into  Africa,  in  order  to  engage  the  Car- 
thaginians in  the  war,  and  afterwards  to  make  a  descent  upon 
Italy ;  during  which  time  the  king  himself  should  remain  in 
Greece  with  his  army,  holding  himself  constantly  in  readiness 
to  cross  over  into  Italy,  whenever  it  should  be  thought  conve- 
nient. This  was  the  only  thing  proper  to  be  done,  and  the 
king  at  first  approved  of  the  plan. 

Hannibal,  in  order  to  engage  his  friends  at  Carthage  in 
his  views,  despatched  thither  a  trusty  person,  with  ample  in- 
structions how  to  proceed.  This  man  w^as  scarcely  arrived 
in  the  city,  but  his  business  was  suspected.  He  was  for  some 
time  watched,  and  at  last  orders  were  issued  for  his  being 
seized.  He,  however,  prevented  the  vigilance  of  his  ene- 
mies, and  escaped  in  the  night ;  after  having  fixed  in  several 
public  places  papers  which  unfolded  the  object  of  his  visit. 
The  senate  immediately  sent  advice  of  this  to  Rome. 

Villius,  one  of  the  deputies  who  had  been  sent  into  Asia, 
to  inquire  into  the  state  of  affairs  there,  and,  if  possible,  to 
discover  the  real  designs  of  Antiochus,  found  Hannibal  in 


310  THE  INTERVAL   BETWEEN 

Ephesus.  He  had  many  conferences  with  him,  paid  him 
several  visits,  and  affected  esteem  for  him  on  all  occasions, 
But  his  chief  aim  by  this  designing  behaviour  was,  to  cause 
him  to  be  suspected,  and  to  lessen  his  credit  with  the  king,  in 
which  artifice  he  succeeded. 

Hannibal,  sensible^of  the  coldness  with  w^hich  Antiochus 
received  him,  since  his  conferences  with  Villius,  took  no  no- 
tice of  it  for  some  time ;  but  at  last  he  deemed  it  advisable  to 
come  to  an  explanation  with  him,  and  to  open  his  mind  freely 
to  him.  "  The  hatred,"  says  he,  "  w^hich  I  bear  to  the  Ro- 
mans, is  known  to  the  whole  world.  I  bound  myself  to  it 
by  an  oath,  from  my  most  tender  infancy.  It  is  this  hatred 
that  made  me  draw  the  sword  against  Rome  during  thirty-six 
years.  It  is  this,  which,  even  in  times  of  peace,  has  caused 
me  to  be  driven  from  my  native  country,  and  forced  me  to 
seek  an  asylum  in  your  dominions.  For  ever  guided  and 
fixed  by  the  same  passion,  should  my  hopes  be  frustrated 
here,  I  will  fly  to  every  part  of  the  globe,  and  rouse  up  all 
nations  against  the  Romans.  I  hate  them,  and  will  hate  them 
eternally;  and  know  that  they  bear  me  no  less  animosity. 
So  long  as  you  continue  in  the  resolution  to  take  up  arms 
against  them,  you  may  rank  Hannibal  in  the  number  of  your 
best  friends.  But  if  other  counsels  incline  you  to  peace,  I 
declare  to  you,  once  for  all,  address  yourself  to  others  for  ad- 
vice, and  not  to  me."  This  speech,  so  frank  and  sincere  in 
the  avowal  of  his  sinful  hatred  towards  the  Romans,  removed 
all  the  king's  suspicions,  and  he  was  resolved  to  give  Hanni- 
bal the  command  of  part  of  his  fleet.  But  the  flattery  of  his 
courtiers  soon  after  changed  his  mind  on  this  subject.  He 
was  told  that  it  was  imprudent  in  him  to  put  so  much  confi- 
dence in  Hannibal,  whose  fortune  or  genius  might  suggest 
to  him,  in  one  day,  a  thousand  projects ;  that  this  very  fame 
which  Hannibal  had  acquired  in  war,  and  which  he  consi- 
dered as  his  peculiar  inheritance,  was  too  great  for  a  man 
who  fought  only  under  the  ensigns  of  another  ;  that  none  but 
the  king  ought  to  be  the  general  and  conductor  of  the  war ; 
and  that  it  was  incumbent  on  him  to  draw  upon  himself  alone 
the  eyes  and  attention  of  all  men  ;  whereas,  should  Hannibal 
be  employed,  he  would  have  all  the  glory  of  the  successes 
ascribed  to  him. 

Livy,  in  commenting  upon  this  circumstance,  makes  this 
remark :  "  No  minds,"  says  he,  "  are  more  susceptible  of  envy 
than  those  whose  merit  is  beneath  their  birth  and  dignity ; 
such  persons  always  abhorring  virtue  and  worth  in  others 


THE   SECOND   AND    THIRD   PUNIC   WARS.  311 

for  this  reason  alone,  because  they  are  strange  and  foreign 
to  themselves."  This  remark  was  fully  verified  on  this  occa- 
sion. A  low  and  sordid  jealousy,  which  is  the  defect  and 
characteristic  of  little  minds,  extinguished  every  generous 
sentiment  in  the  breast  of  Antiochus,  and  Hannibal  was  now 
slighted. 

In  a  council  held  some  time  after,  to  which  Hannibal,  for 
form's  sake,  was  admitted,  he,  when  it  came  to  his  turn  to 
speak,  endeavoured  chiefly  to  prove  that  Philip  of  Macedon 
ought,  on  any  terms,  to  be  engaged  to  form  an  alliance  with 
Antiochus.  "With  regard,"  said  he,  "to  the  operations  of 
the  war,  I  adhere  immovably  to  my  first  opinion ;  and  had 
my  counsels  been  hstened  to  before,  Tuscany  and  Liguria 
would  now  be  all  in  a  flame ;  and  Hannibal— a  name"^  that 
strikes  terror  into  the  Romans— in  Italy.  Though  I  should 
not  be  very  well  skilled  as  to  other  matters,  yet  the  good  and 
ill  success  I  have  met  with,  must  necessarily  have  taught  me 
sufficiently  how  to  carry  on  a  war  against  the  Romans.  I 
have  nothing  now  in  my  power,  but  to  give  you  my  counsel, 
and  offer  you  my  service.  May  the  gods  give  success  to  all 
your  undertakings!"  Hannibal's  speech  was  received  with 
applause,  but  not  one  of  his  counsels  was  acted  upon. 

Antiochus,  deceived  by  his  flatterers,  remained  at  Ephesus 
after  the  Romans  had  driven  him  out  of  Greece;  not  once 
imagining  that  they  would  ever  invade  his  dominions.  Han- 
nibal, who  was  now  restored  to  favour,  was  constantly  assur- 
ing him  that  the  war  would  soon  be  removed  into  Asia ;  that 
he  would  soon  see  the  enemy  at  his  gates ;  and  that  he  must 
resolve  either  to  abdicate  his  throne,  or  oppose  vigorously  a 
people  who  grasped  at  the  empire  of  the  world.  The  king 
was  prompted  by  this  representation  to  make  some  weak 
efforts;  but,  as  his  conduct  was  unsteady,  after  sustaining 
losses,  he  was  forced  to  terminate  the  war  by  an  ignominious 
peace. 

One  of  the  articles  of  this  treaty  was,  that  Antiochus  should 
deliver  up  Hannibal  to  the  Romans  ;  but  that  general  escaped 
to  Crete,  now  called  Candia,  an  island  facing  the  ^o-ean 
sea.  ° 

The  Cretians  seem  to  have  been  notorious  for  dishonesty 
and  falsehood;  hence  Cretizare  cvm  crelpnsibus,  to  '^  deceive 
the  deceiver,"  was  a  common  proverb,  with  reference  to  that 
people.  Polybius  never  mentions  them  without  some  severe 
expression  ;  and  their  character  is  also  alluded  to  by  the  apos- 
tle Paul.     In  the  instruction  he  gave  to  Titus  how\o  proceed 


312  THE  INTERVAL  BETWEEN 

in  establishing  the  Cretians  in  the  faith,  he  says :  "  For  there 
are  many  unruly  and  vain  talkers  and  deceivers,  specially 
they  of  the  circumcision:  whose  mouths  must  be  stopped, 
who  subvert  whole  houses,  teaching  things  which  they  ought 
not,  for  filthy  lucre's  sake.  One  of  themselves,  even  a  pro- 
phet" (or  poet,  for  the  terms  poet  and  prophet  were  often  used 
indifferently  both  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans)  "  of  their  own, 
said,  The  Cretians  are  always  liars,  evil  beasts,  slow  bellies," 
Tit.  i.  10 — 12 ;  or,  as  the  two  latter  phrases  have  been  inter- 
preted, "  brutes  "  and  "  lazy  gluttons." 

But  Hannibal  showed  himself  able  to  cope  with  the  Cre- 
tians, with  reference  to  their  avarice  and  deceit.  The  riches 
he  had  brought  with  him  excited  their  avarice,  and  he  was 
in  some  danger  of  being  ruined  by  them.  By  a  stratagem, 
however,  he  eluded  their  power.  He  filled  several  vessels 
with  molten  lead,  the  tops  of  which  were  thinly  covered  over 
with  gold  and  silver.  These  he  deposited  in  the  temple  of 
Diana,  (primarily  the  moon,)  in  the  presence  of  several  Cre- 
tians, to  whose  honesty,  he  said,  he  confided  all  his  treasure. 
A  strong  guard  was  then  posted  round  the  temple,  and  Han- 
nibal left  at  full  liberty,  from  a  supposition  that  his  riches 
were  secured.  But  he  had  concealed  them  in  hollow  statues 
of  brass,  which  he  carried  about  with  him.  After  this,  em- 
bracing a  favourable  opportunity,  he  made  his  escape,  and 
fled  to  the  court  of  Prusias,  king  of  Bithynia. 

Hannibal  made  some  stay  in  the  court  of  Prusias,  who 
soon  engaged  in  war  with  Eumenes,  king  of  Pergamus,  a 
professed  friend  to  the  Romans.  By  means  of  Hannibal,  the 
troops  of  Prusias  gained  several  victories,  both  by  land  and 
sea.  In  one  of  the  latter  engagements,  ever  fruitful  in  inven- 
tion to  obtain  the  conquests  over  his  opposers,  he  employed  a 
stratagem  of  an  extraordinary  kind.  As  the  enemy's  fleet 
consisted  of  more  ships  than  his,  he  put  into  earthen  vessels, 
all  kinds  of  serpents,  and  ordered  these  vessels  to  be  thrown 
into  the  enemy's  ships.  His  chief  aim  was  to  destroy  Eume- 
nes, and  for  that  purpose  it  was  necessary  to  discover  in  which 
ship  he  was.  This  end  he  obtained  by  pretending  to  send  a 
letter  to  him ;  and  having  gained  this  point,  he  ordered  the 
commanders  of  the  respective  vessels  to  direct  their  attack 
principally  against  his  ship.  They  obeyed,  and  would  have 
taken  it,  had  he  not  outsailed  his  pursuers.  The  rest  of  the 
ships  of  Pergamus  sustained  the  fight  with  great  vigour,  till 
the  earthen  vessels  had  been  thrown  into  them,  and  then, 
when  they  saw  themselves  surrounded  with  the  serpents, 


THE   SECOND   AND   THIRD  PUNIC   WARS.  313 

which  darted  out  of  these  vessels  when  they  hroke  to  pieces, 
they  were  seized  with  dread,  retired  in  disorder,  and  yielded 
the  victory  to  the  enemy,  , 

But  the  career  of  Hannibal  was  now  drawing*  to  a  close. 
The  Romans  would  not  suffer  him  to  rest  at  the  court  of  Pru- 
sias ;  but  deputed  Q,.  Flaminius  to  that  monarch  to  complain 
of  the  protection  he  afforded  him.  Hannibal  was  aware  of 
the  motives  of  this  embassy,  and  therefore  did  not  wait  till 
his  enemies  had  an  opportunity  of  delivering  him  up  to  the 
power  of  the  Romans.  He  attempted  to  secure  himself  by 
flight ;  but  perceiving  that  the  seven  secret  outlets  which  he 
had  contrived  in  his  palace  were  all  seized  by  the  soldiers  of 
Prusias,  who,  by  perfidiously  betraying  his  guest,  was  desir- 
ous of  gaining  the  favour  of  Rome,  he  ordered  the  poison 
which  he  had  long  kept  for  this  melancholy  occasion.  This 
being  brought  him,  taking  it  in  his  hand,  he  exclaimed,  "  Let 
us  free  the  Romans  from  the  disquiet  with  which  they  have 
so  long  been  tortured,  since  they  have  not  patience  to  wait  for 
an  old  man's  death.  The  victory  which  Flaminius  gains 
over  a  man  disarmed  and  betrayed,  will  not  do  him  much 
honour.  This  single  day  will  be  a  lasting  testimony  to  the 
great  degeneracy  of  the  Romans.  Their  fathers  sent  notice 
to  Pyrrhus,  to  desire  he  would  beware  of  a  traitor  who  in- 
tended to  poison  him,  and  that  at  a  time  when  this  prince  was 
at  war  with  them  in  the  very  centre  of  Italy ;  but  their  sons 
have  deputed  a  person  of  consular  dignity  to  spirit  up  Prusias 
impiously  to  murder  one  who  is  not  only  his  friend,  but  his 
guest."  After  this,  calling  down  curses  upon  Prusias,  and 
having  invoked  the  gods,  the  protectors  of  the  sacred  rights 
of  hospitality,  he  drank  the  poison,  and  died  at  seventy  years 
of  age.* 

*  The  place  where  Hannibal  died,  was  an  obscure  village,  anciently- 
called  Libyssa.  This  has  been  generally  supposed  to  be  the  modern 
Ghebse,  or  Ghebsa,  which  is  a  small,  dirty  town  chiefly  inhabited  by 
Turks,  at  some  distance  from  the  northern  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Nicome- 
dis,  and  remarkable  for  a  tumulus,  or  mound,  supposed  to  be  the  monu- 
ment of  that  celebrated  commander.  A  learned  antiquary  and  classical 
geographer,  however,  (Colonel  Leake,)  has  shown  this  to  be  a  mistake. 
He  states,  that  Ghebsa,  which  is  pronounced  Ghivizah  by  both  Turks 
and  Greeks,  is  more  probably  the  successor  of  Dacibyza,  the  word  when 
written  in  Greek  Kibyza,  being  probably  the  ancient  Daciifyza,  with  the 
omission  of  the  first  syllable.  He  remarks,  also,  that  the  thirty-six  or 
thirty-nine  Roman  miles,  placed  in  the  itinerary  between  Chalcedonia 
(Scutari)  and  Libyssa,  does  not  agree  so  well  with^the  distance  from 
Scutari  to  Ghebsa,  as  from  Scutari  to  Malsum,  which  village  he  takes  to 
be  the  ancient  Libyssa.  What  would  appear  to  confirm  this  supposition, 
VOL  U.  27 


814  DISSENSIONS   WITH   MASINISSA. 

His  name  has  been  handed  down  to  posterity  by  secular 
historians  as  one  of  the  greatest  in  the  annals  of  fame.  But 
those  who  are  accustomed  to  revere  the  rights  of  humanity, 
and  to  look  upon  human  life  as  a  sacred  deposit  on  earth  from 
God,  not  to  he  violated  in  man's  own  person,  or  in  that  of 
another,  must  drop  the  tear  of  pity  over  his  memory,  and  pray 
that  the  sun  in  the  heavens  may  not  again  shine. upon  such  a 
character,  and  that  the  earth  may  no  more  be  visited  by  such 
a  scourge.  But  his  deeds  were  the  effects  of  that  spirit  of  evil 
which  especially  characterizes  paganism,  though  its  effects 
are  too  often  exhibited  by  nominal  Christians.  Had  "  the 
light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God,"  as  it  is  discerned 
"  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,"  shone  with  its  healmg  influ- 
ences into  his  heart,  he  would,  perhaps,  have  been  as  great  a 
blessing  as  he  was  a  scourge  to  mankind.  Thrice  glorious, 
then,  will  that  day  be,  when  "  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea,"  Isa.  xi. 
9  ;  for  the  sword  shall  then  rust  in  its  scabbard,  and  every  man 
shall  sit  "  under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig-tree ;  and  none 
shall  make  them  afraid,"  Mic.  iv.  4.  Peace,  through  the  blood 
of  the  cross,  shall  then  flow  like  a  river,  and  spread  its  hal- 
lowed influence  over  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  making  it  as 
the  garden  of  Eden,  in  which  man  will  delight  to  dwell,  and 
to  enjoy  communion  Avith  his  God. 

We  now  proceed  to  notice  the  dissensions  between  the  Car- 
thaginians and  Masinissa,  king  of  Numidia.  Among  the  con- 
ditions of  the  peace  granted  to  the  Carthaginians,  there  was 
one  which  enacted,  that  they  should  restore  to  Masinissa  all 
the  territories  and  cities  he  possessed  before  the  war  ;  and  far- 
ther, Scipio,  to  reward  the  zeal  and  fidelity  which  that  mon- 

is  the  circumstance  of  there  being  a  long  tongue  of  land  at  this  village, 
projecting  from  the  opposite  shore,  and  a  ferry  called  the  ferry  of  the  Dil, 
or  Tongue,  which  Plutarch  seems  to  refer  to  in  his  description  of  a  sandy 
place  at  ancient  Libyssa;  his  description  and  the  promontory  exactly  cor- 
responding. If  Gheviza,  therefore,  be  supposed  a  corruption  not  of  Li- 
byssa, but  of  Dacibyza,  and  if  the  distance  of  Malsum  corresponds  to  that 
stated  in  the  itinerary,  and  Plutarch's  description  of  a  san<ly  place  at  Li- 
byssa has  reference  to  the  promotory  of  Malsum ;  then  that  village,  and 
not  Ghebsa,  must  be  regarded  as  the  ancient  Libyssa.  It  may  be  men- 
tioned, that  a  tomb  has  been  lately  discovered  at  Malta  with  this  plain  in- 
scription, "  Hannibal,  the  son  of  Hamilcar ;"  a  circumstance  which  has 
raised  doubts  in  the  minds  of  some  learned  men  as  to  the  soundness  of 
the  universal  opinion,  namely  that  Hannibal  died  a  voluntary  death.  Till, 
however,  it  can  be  shown  that  there  was  no  other  Hannibal,  son  of  Hamil- 
car, it  is  better  to  ^edit  the  testimony  of  the  ancient  historiaDj  which  is 
defirute  on  this  point. 


DISSENSIONS   WITH  MASINISSA.  316 

arch  had  shown  towards  the  Romans,  had  added  to  his  do- 
minions those  of  Syphax.  This  present  afterwards  gave  rise 
to  disputes  between  the  Carthaginians  and  Numidians. 

These  two  princes,  Syphax  and  Masinissa,  were  both  kings 
in  Numidia,  but  reigned  over  different  nations.  The  subjects 
of  Syphax  were  called  MassGesylii,  and  their  capital  was  Gir- 
iha.  Those  of  Masinissa  were  the  Massylii ;  but  they  are  bet- 
ter know  by  the  name  of  Numidians,  which  was  a  name  de- 
rived from  their  original  pastoral  life,  and  which  was  common 
to  both. 

The  country  which  these  tribes  inhabited  was  bounded  by 
the  dominions  of  Carthage  on  the  east ;  by  the  Molucha  or  Mo- 
locath,  the  modern  Mulwia  or  Mohalou,  on  the  west ;  by  the 
Mediterranean  on  the  north ;  and  by  the  Gaetuli  on  the  south. 
The  Roman  province  of  Numidia  was  of  much  smaller  extent ; 
this  was  bounded  by  the  Ampsagus  on  the  west,  and  by  the 
Tusca,  corresponding  to  the  eastern  part  of  Algiers,  on  the 
east. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  second  Punic  war,  Syphax  siding 
with  the  Romans,  Gala,  the  father  of  Masinnissa,  to  check  the 
career  of  so  powerful  a  neighbour,  considered  it  his  interest 
to  join  the  Carthaginans ;  and  accordingly  he  sent  against  Sy- 
phax a  powerful  army,  under  the  conduct  of  his  son,  at  that 
time  but  seventeen  years  of  age.  Syphax  being  overcome  in 
a  battle,  in  which  it  is  said  he  lost  3U,000  men,  escaped  into 
Mauritania.  The  aspect  of  affairs  was,  however,  afterwards 
greatly  changed. 

Masinissa,  after  his  father's  death,  was  often  reduced  to  the 
brink  of  ruin,  being  driven  from  his  kingdom  by  an  usurper, 
pursued  by  Syphax,  in  danger  every  instant  of  falling  into 
the  hands  of  his  enemies,  destitute  of  forces,  money,  and  of 
every  resource.  He  was  at  that  time  in  alliance  with  the  Ro- 
mans, and  the  friend  of  Scipio,  with  whom  he  had  an  inter- 
view in  Spain.  But  his  misfortunes  would  not  permit  him  to 
bring  great  succours  to  that  general.  When  Laelius  arrived 
in  Africa,  Masinissa  joined  him  with  a  few  horse,  and  from 
that  time  continued  inviolably  attached  to  the  Roman  interest. 
Syphax,  on  the  contrary,  having  married  Sophonisha,  daughter 
of  Asdrubal,  who  is  celebrated  in  history  for  her  beauty,  went 
over  to  the  Carthaginians. 

The  fate  of  these  two  princes  again  changed,  but  the  change 
was  now  final.  Syphax  lost  a  great  battle,  and  was  taken 
alive  by  the  enemy,  b.  c.  203.  Masinissa,  the  victor,  besieged 
Cirtha,  his  capital,  and  took  it.     But  he  met  with  a  greater 


316  DISSENSIONS    WITH   MASINISSA. 

danger  in  that  city  than  in  the  field.  This  was  Sophonisba, 
whose  charms  he  was  unable  to  resist.  To  secure  this  prin- 
cess, he  married  her ;  but  a  few  days  after,  he  was  obliged  to 
send  her  poison  as  her  nuptial  present ;  this  being  the  only 
way  he  could  devise  to  keep  his  promise  with  Sophonisba, 
and  preserve  her  from  the  power  of  the  Romans.  This  was 
a  great  error,  and  one  that  could  not  fail  to  disobhge  a  nation 
jealous  of  its  authority.  But  Masinissa,  according  to  the  no- 
tions of  those  days,  made  some  amends  for  his  fault,  by  the 
signal  services  he  afterwards  rendered  to  Scipio. 

We  observed,  that  after  the  defeat  and  capture  of  Syphax, 
the  dominions  of  this  prince  were  bestowed  upon  Masinissa, 
and  that  the  Carthaginians  were  forced  to  restore  all  that  he 
had  previously  possessed.  This  it  was  that  gave  rise  to  the 
dissensions  between  the  two  states. 

A  territory  situated  towards  the  sea-side,  near  the  Lesser 
Syrtis,  was  the  object  of  contention.  The  country  was  very 
rich,  and  the  soil  extremely  fruitful ;  a  proof  of  which  is,  that 
the  city  of  Leptis  alone,  which  belonged  to  that  territory,  paid 
the  Carthaginians  a  talent  daily,  by  way  of  tribute.  Masinis- 
sa had  seized  part  of  this  territory.  Each  side  sent  deputies 
to  Rome  to  plead  the  cause  of  their  respective  superiors  be- 
fore the  senate.  This  assembly  thought  proper  to  send  Sci- 
pio Africanus,  with  two  other  commissioners,  to  examine  the 
controversy  upon  the  spot ;  but  these  returned  without  coming 
to  any  decision. 

Ten  years  after,  b.  c.  180,  new  commissioners  having  been 
appointed  to  examine  the  same  affair,  they  acted  as  the  former 
had  done,  and  left  the  whole  undetermined. 

The  Carthaginians  brought  their  complant,  about  b.  c.  170, 
again  before  the  Roman  senate,  and  with  greater  importunity. 
They  represented,  that  besides  the  lands  at  first  contested,  Ma- 
sinissa had,  during  the  two  preceding  years,  dispossessed 
them  of  upwards  of  seventy  towns  and  castles ;  that  the  treaty 
forbade  their  making  war  upon  any  of  the  alhes  of  Rome ; 
that  they  could  no  longer  endure  the  insolence,  avarice,  and 
cruelty  of  that  prince ;  that  they  were  deputed  to  Rome  with 
three  requests: — 1,  that  the  affair  ought  to  be  examined  and 
deceded  by  the  senate ;  2,  that  they  might  be  permitted  to  re- 
pel force  by  force ;  and,  3,  that  if  favour  was  to  prevail  over 
justice,  they  then  entreated  the  Romans  to  specify  which  of 
the  Carthaginian  lands  they  were  desirous  should  be  given 
up  to  Masinissa,  that  they  might  know  what  they  had  to  de- 
pend on  ;  and  that  the  Roman  people  would  show  some  mode- 


DISSENSIONS   WITH   MASINISSA.  S17 

ration  at  a  time  that  this  prince  set  no  other  bounds  to  his  pre- 
tensions than  his  insatiable  avarice.  The  deputies  concluded 
with  beseeching  the  Romans,  that  if  they  had  any  cause  of 
complaint  against  the  Carthaginians,  since  the  conclusion  of 
the  last  peace,  they  themselves  would  punish  them,  and  not 
give  them  up  to  the  caprice  of  a  prince  by  whom  their  liber- 
ties were  made  precarious,  and  their  lives  insupportable. 
After  ending  their  speech,  pierced  with  grief,  and  shedding 
floods  of  tears,  they  fell  prostrate  upon  the  earth — a  spectacle 
that  moved  all  present  with  compassion,  and  raised  a  violent 
hatred  against  Masinissa. 

Galussa,  the  son  of  Masinissa,  was  present,  and  he  being 
asked  what  he  had  to  urge  in  this  affair,  answered,  that  his 
father  had  not  given  him  any  instructions,  not  knowing  what 
would  be  laid  to  his  charge.  He  only  desired  the  senate  to 
reflect,  that  the  circumstances  which  drew  all  this  hatred  upon 
him  from  the  Carthaginians  was  the  fidelity  with  which  he 
had  always  been  attached  to  the  Romans. 

The  senate,  after  hearing  both  sides,  answered,  that  they 
were  inclined  to  do  justice  to  v^rhom  it  might  be  due;  that  Ga- 
lussa should  set  out  immediately  with  their  orders  to  his  father, 
who  was  thereby  commanded  immediately  to  send  deputies 
with  those  of  Carthage ;  that  they  would  do  all  that  lay  in 
their  power  to  serve  him,  but  not  to  the  prejudice  of  the  Car- 
thaginians ;  that  it  was  but  jilst  the  ancient  limits  should  be 
preserved ;  and  that  it  was  far  from  being  the  intention  of  the 
Romans  to  have  the  Carthaginians  robbed  during  the  peace 
of  those  territories  and  cities  which  had  been  left  them  by  the 
treaty. 

But  all  these  assurances  were  vain.  The  Romans  did  not 
once  endeavour  to  satisfy  the  Carthaginians,  or  to  do  them  the 
least  justice,  and  they  evidently  protracted  the  business  on  pur- 
pose to  give  Masinissa  time  to  establish  himself  in  his  usurpa- 
tion, and  to  weaken  Carthage. 

Anew  deputation,  b.  c.  155,  was  sent  to  examine  the  af- 
fairs upon  the  spot ;  iDut  nothing  could  be  agreed  upon.  Cato, 
the  elder,  was  one  of  the  commissioners  at  this  time.  That  in- 
flexible old  man  inspected  every  part  of  the  great  commercial 
city ;  and  being  astonished  at  the  sight  of  its  still  remaining 
wealth  and  magnificence,  persuaded  himself  that  nothing  but 
its  ruin  could  insure  the  dominion  of  Rome.  Hence  the  well- 
known  burden  of  his  address  to  the  senate  on  his  return, 
"  Carthage  must  be  destroyed."  From  that  time,  indeed,  what- 
ever affair  u-a.«'  Hebaf^d  in  the  senate,  Cato  alwavs  added  these 

27* 


318  DISSENSIONS  WITH   MASlNlSSA. 

words  to  his  opinion :  "  Carthage  must  be  destroyed."  Some 
of  the  Roman  senators,  however,  and  Scipio  Nasica  among 
the  rest,  were  for  conciUatory  measures. 

In  the  mean  time,  divisions  broke  out  in  Carthage.  The 
popular  faction,  having  become  more  powerful  than  that  of 
the  grandees  and  senators,  sent  forty  citizens  into  banishment, 
and  bound  the  people  by  an  oath  never  to  suffer  the  least  men- 
tion to  be  made  of  recalling  those  exiles.  They  withdrew  to 
the  court  of  Masinissa,  who  despatched  Galussa  and  Micipsa, 
his  two  sons,  to  Carthage,  to  solicit  their  recall.  The  gates 
of  the  city  were  shut  against  them,  and  one  of  them  was  close- 
ly pursued  by  Hamilcar,  one  of  the  generals  of  the  republic. 

This  gave  occasion  to  a  new  war  ;  and  accordingly,  armies 
were  levied  on  both  sides.  A  battle  was  fought,  the  result  of 
^Yhich  was,  the  defeat  of  the  Carthaginians.  Scipio,  who 
afterwards  ruined  Carthage,  was  a  spectator  of  this  strife. 
During  the  whole  engagement,  he  stood  upon  a  neighbour- 
ing hill ;  and,  if  we  may  credit  his  own  words,  beheld  the  fear- 
ful scene  with  pleasure.  He  used  to  say,  indeed,  that  there 
were  but  two  more  who  had  the  pleasure  of  being  spectators 
of  such  an  action  ;  namely,  Jupiter  from  Mount  Ida,  and  Nep- 
tune from  Samothrace,  when  the  Greeks  and  Trojans  fought 
before  Troy,  alluding  to  some  passages  in  the  Iliad  of  Homer  : 
see  Books  vin.  and  xiii.  If  Sc^)io  did  thus  feel  pleased,  his 
heart  was  indeed  void  of  humanity  ;  for  many  thousands  of 
his  fellow-creatures  were  engaged  in  destroying  each  other, 
a  sight  sufficient,  one  would  think,  to  appal  the  stoutest  heart, 
and  to  have  made  him  utter  sentiments  similar  to  those  of  the 
Christian  poet : — 

•'  Oh  for  a  lodge  in  some  vast  wilderness, 
Some  boundless  contiguity  of  shade, 
Where  rumour  of  oppression  and  deceit,' 
Of  unsuccessful  or  successful  war, 
Might  never  reach  me  more." — Coivpcr. 

After  the  battle  was  over,  the  Carthaginians  entreated 
Scipio  to  terminate  their  conflict  with  Masinissa.  Accord- 
ingly, he  heard  both  parties  ;  and  the  Carthaginians  con- 
sented to  yield  up  the  territory  of  Emporium,  which  had  been 
the  first  cause  of  dispute,  to  pay  Masinissa  200  talents  of  sil- 
ver at  once,  and  800  more  at  such  times  as  should  be  agreed. 
But  Masinissa  insisting  upon  the  return  of  the  exiles,  and  the 
Carthaginians  being  unwilling  to  agree  to  such  a  proposition, 
the  affair  was  left  undecided. 


THE   THIRD   PUNIC   WAR.  319 

Immediately  after  the  battle  was  over,  Masinissa  had 
locked  up  the  enemy's  camp,  which  was  pitched  upon  a  hill, 
whither  neither  troops  nor  provisions  could  come.  During 
this  interval,  deputies  arrived  from  Rome  with  orders  from 
the  senate  to  decide  the  quarrel,  should  the  king  he  defeated ; 
otherwise  to  leave  it  undetermined,  and  to  give  him  the 
Strongest  assurance  of  their  continued  friendship.  The  de- 
puties complied  with  the  last  perfidious  injunction.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  famine  increased  daily  among  the  Carthagi- 
nians, and,  to  add  to  their  calamity,  it  was  followed  by  a 
plague.  Being  reduced  to  the  last  extremity,  they  surren- 
dered to  Masinissa,  promising  to  deliver  up  the  deserters,  to 
pay  him  5000  talents  of  silver  in  fifty  years,  and  restore  the 
exiles.  They  farther  submitted  to  the  ignominious  ceremony 
of  passing  under  the  yoke,  (two  forked  poles  and  a  spear  laid 
across,)  after  which  they  were  dismissed,  with  only  one  gar- 
ment for  each.  But  not  all  those  who  had  escaped  the  battle, 
famine,  and  the  plague,  returned  home.  Galussa,  in  revenge 
for  the  ill-treatment  which  he  had  previously  received  from 
the  Carthaginians,  notwithstanding  these  soldiers  were  un- 
armed and  defenceless,  sent  out  against  them  a  body  of  cav- 
alry who  destroyed  great  numbers  of  them.  Very  few  out 
of  58,000  men  returned  to  Carthage  to  tell  their  sad  tale  of 
woe. 

THE   THIRD   PUNIC    WAR. 

The  third  Punic  war  was  commenced  149  years  b.  c,  and 
continued  its  ravages  during  the  three  succeeding  years.  It 
is  chiefly  remarkable  for  its  result  j  for  it  ended  in  the  utter 
destruction  of  Carthage. 

The  inhabitants  of  Carthage  knew  what  they  now  had  to 
fear  from  the  Romans  ;  and  to  prevent  the  consequences  of  it, 
Asdrubal,  general  of  the  army,  and  Carthalo,  commander  of 
the  auxiliary  forces,  were,  by  a  decree  of  the  senate,  im- 
peached as  guilty  of  high  treason,  for  being  the  authors  of  a 
war  against  Masinissa.  They  then  sent  a  deputation  to 
Rome,  to  inquire  what  opinion  that  republic  entertained  of 
their  late  proceedings,  and  what  was  desired  of  them.  The 
deputies  were  answered,  that  it  was  the  business  of  the  senate 
and  people  of  Carthage  to  know  what  satisfaction  was  due  to 
the  Romans.  A  second  deputation  could  obtain  no  clearer 
reply  to  their  inquiries,  and  they  were  filled  with  alarm.  Re- 
collecting their  past  suflferings,  they  fancied  the  enemy  was 


320  THE   THIRD   PTJNIC   WAR. 

already  at  tlieir  gates,  and  they  endured  in  imagination  all 
the  consequences  of  a  siege,  and  of  a  city  taken  sword  in 
hand. 

At  Rome,  the  senate  debated  on  the  measures  it  would  he 
proper  for  them  to  take,  and  the  disputes  between  Cato,  the 
elder,  and  Scipio  Nasica,  whose  opinions  differed  on  this  sub- 
ject, were  renewed.  The  former,  as  we  have  seen,  on  his 
return  from  Africa,  had  declared,  that  Carthage,  being  still  a 
powerful  city,  ought  to  be  destroyed,  in  order  to  secure  the 
safety  and  pre-eminence  of  Rome.  It  is  farther  said,  that, 
after  he  had  ended  his  speech,  he  threw  out  of  the  lappet  of 
his  robe,  in  the  midst  of  the  senate,  some  African  figs ;  and, 
as  the  senators  admired  their  beauty  and  size,  "  Know,"  says 
he,  "  that  it  is  but  three  days  since  these  figs  were  gathered. 
Such  is  the  distance  between  the  enemy  and  us." 

Cato  and  Nasica  had  each  their  reasons  for  voting  as  they 
did.  Nasica,  observing  that  the  people  of  Rome  had  risen  to 
such  a  height  of  insolence,  as  led  them  into  excesses  of  every 
kind ;  that  their  prosperity  had  swelled  them  into  a  pride 
which  the  senate  itself  could  not  check  ;  and  that  their  power 
was  become  so  enormous,  that  they  were  able  to  draw  the 
city  into  every  wild  design  they  might  undertake, — thought 
it  was  desirable  they  should  continue  in  fear  of  Carthage,  in 
order  that  this  feeling  might  serve  as  a  restraint  upon  them. 
It  was  his  opinion  that  the  Carthaginians  were  too  weak  to 
subdue  the  Romans;  and,  at  the  same  time,  too  strong  to  be 
considered  by  them  in  a  contemptible  light.  Cato,  on  the 
other  hand,  thought  that,  as  his  countrymen  had  become  in- 
solent by  success,  and  plunged  headlong  into  profligacy  of 
every  kind,  nothing  could  be  more  dangerous  than  for  them 
to  have  for  a  rival  and  an  enemy,  a  city  that  till  now  had  been 
powerful,  but  was  become,  even  by  its  misfortunes,  more  wise 
and  provident,  and  consequently  more  to  be  feared  than  ever. 
He  advised,  therefore,  the  removal  of  the  fears  of  the  Romans 
entirely  with  regard  to  a  foreign  power,  that  they  might  freely 
indulge  themselves,  in  excesses  of  every  kind,  without  fear  of 
molestation. 

Which  of  these  two  reasoned  most  wisely,  the  event  showed. 
"  The  first  Scipio,"  says  Paterculus,  speaking  of  the  Romans, 
"  had  laid  the  foundations  of  their  future  grandeur  ;  and  the 
last,  by  his  conquests,  opened  a  door  to  all  manner  of  luxury 
and  dissoluteness.  For,  after  Carthage,  which  obliged  Rome 
to  stand  for  ever  on  its  guard,  by  disputing  empire  with  that 
city,  had  been  totally  destroyed,  the  depravity  of  manners  was 


THE   THIRD   PUNIC   WAR,  321 

no  longer  slow  in  its  progress,  but  swelled  at  once  into  the 
utmost  excess  of  corruption." 

The  senate  resolved  to  declare  war  against  the  Carthagi- 
nians ;  and  the  reasons  urged  for  it  were,  their  having  main- 
tained ships  contrary  to  the  tenor  of  the  treaty,  and  their  hav- 
ing sent  an  army  out  of  their  territories  against  a  prince  who 
was  in  alliance  with  Rome,  and  whose  son  they  had  treated 
ill,  at  the  time  that  he  was  accompanied  by  a  Roman  ambas- 
sador. 

An  event  which  occurred  at  the  time  the  senate  of  Rome 
was  debating  on  the  affair  of  Carthage,  doubtless  contributed 
very  much  to  make  them  take  that  resolution.  This  was  the 
arrival  of  deputies  from  Utica,  who  came  to  surrender  up 
themselves,  their  effects,  their  lands,  and  their  city  into  the 
hands  of  the  Romans.  Nothing  could  have  occurred  more 
seasonably.  Utica  was  the  second  city  of  Africa,  very  rich, 
and  had  a  commodious  port.  It  stood  within  60  furlongs  of 
Carthage,  so  that  it  might  serve  as  a  place  of  arms  in  the  at- 
tack of  that  city.  The  Romans  now  hesitated  no  longer,  but 
formally  proclaimed  war.  M.  Manilius  and  L.  Marcius  Cen- 
sorinus,  the  two  consuls,  were  desired  to  set  out  as  soon  as 
possible  ;  and  they  had  secret  orders  from  the  senate  not  to 
end  the  war  but  by  the  destruction  of  Carthage.  The  con- 
suls immediately  left  Rome,  and  stopped  at  Lilybaeum,  in 
Sicily.  They  had  a  considerable  fleet,  on  board  of  which 
were  80,000  foot,  and  about  4000  horse  soldiers. 

The  Carthaginians  were  not  yet  acquainted  with  the  reso- 
lutions which  had  been  taken  at  Rome.  The  answer  brought 
back  by  the  deputies  had  only  increased  their  fears,  and  made 
them  pause  to  know  what  course  to  take.  At  length  they 
sent  new  deputies,  whom  they  invested  with  full  powers  to 
act  as  they  should  think  proper,  and  even  to  declare,  that  the 
Carthaginians  gave  up  themselves,  and  all  they  possessed,  to 
the  will  and  pleasure  of  the  Romans.  They  did  not,  how- 
ever, expect  any  success  from  this  condescension,  because,  as 
the  Uticans  had  been  beforehand  with  them  on  that  occasion, 
this  circumstance  had  deprived  them  of  the  merit  of  a  volun- 
tary submission. 

The  deputies,  on  their  arrival  at  Rome,  were  informed  that 
war  had  been  proclaimed,  and  that  the  army  was  sent  out. 
The  Romans  had  despatched  a  courier  to  Carthage,  Avith  the 
decree  of  the  senate,  and  to  inform  that  city  that  the  Roman 
fleet  had  sailed.  The  deputies,  therefore,  had  no  time  for 
dehberation,  but  delivered  up  themselves,  and  all  they  pos- 


322  THE   THIRD   FUNIC    WAR. 

sessed,  to  the  Romans.  In  consequence  of  this  behaviotir, 
they  were  answered,  that  since  they  had  at  last  taken  a  right 
step,  the  senate  granted  them  their  liberty,  the  enjoyment  of 
their  laws,  and  all  their  territories,  and  other  possessions, 
whether  public  or  private,  provided  that,  within  thirty  days, 
they  should  send  as  hostages,  to  Lilybceum,  300  young  Car- 
thaginians of  the  first  rank,  and  comply  with  the  orders  of 
the  consuls.  This  last  condition  filled  them  with  the  deepest 
anxiety,  which  would  not  allow  them  to  make  a  reply,  or  de- 
mand an  explanation.  They  therefore  set  out  for  Carthage, 
and  there  gave  an  account  of  their  embassy. 

All  the  articles  of  the  treaty  were  extremely  severe  with  re- 
gard to  the  Carthaginians ;  but  the  silence  of  the  Romans 
with  respect  to  the  cities  perplexed  them  exceedingly.  But 
all  they  could  do  was  to  obey.  After  the  many  losses  the 
Carthaginians  had  sustained,  they  were  by  no  means  able  to 
resist  the  Romans.  Troops,  provisions,  ships,  allies,  and 
every  thing  were  wanting,  and  hope  and  vigour  more  than 
all  the  rest. 

The  Carthaginians  did  not  wait  till  the  thirty  days  were 
expired,  but  sent  immediately  the  hostages  demanded,  in  hope 
of  softening  the  enemy  by  a  willing  obedience.  These  hos- 
tages were  the  flower  of  the  noblest  families  of  Carthage. 
Never  was  any  spectacle  more  moving  ;  nothing  was  heard 
but  cries,  nothing  seen  but  tears.  The  disconsolate  mother  of 
each  hostage,  bathed  in  tears,  tore  her  dishevelled  hair,  beat 
her  breasts,  and,  as  if  grief  and  despair  had  distracted  her, 
yelled  in  such  a  manner,  as  might  have  moved  to  pity  the 
most  stony  heart.  But  the  scene  was  more  touching  when 
the  moment  of  separation  was  come.  Each  tender  parent, 
persuaded  that  they  should  never  see  their  offspring  more, 
bathed  them  with  their  tears,  clasped  them  with  eager  fond- 
ness in  their  embraces,  and  force  alone  could  dissever  them 
from  their  arms.  The  hostages  having  arrived  in  Sicily, 
were  carried  from  thence  to  Rome,  and  the  consuls  told  the 
deputies,  that  when  they  should  arrive  at  Utica,  they  would 
acquaint  them  with  the  orders  of  the  republic. 

Nothing  is  more  painful  than  a  state  of  uncertainty,  which, 
without  descending  to  particulars,  gives  occasion  to  the  mind 
to  picture  to  itself  every  species  of  misery.  As  soon  as  it  was 
known  that  the  fleet  had  arrived  at  Utica,  the  deputies  re- 
paired to  the  Roman  camp,  signifying  that  they  were  come 
in  the  name  of  their  republic,  in  order  to  receive  their  com- 
mands, which  they  were  ready  to  obey.     The  consul,  after 


THE  THIRD   PUNIC   WAR.  ^^ 

praising  their  good  disposition  and  compliance,  commanded 
them  to  deliver  up  to  him,  without  fraud  or  delay,  all  their 
arms.  This  they  consented  to,  but  besought  him  to  reflect 
on  the  pitiable  condition  to  which  he  was  reducing  them  at  a 
time  when  Asdrubal,  whose  quarrel  against  them  was  owing 
to  no  other  cause  than  their  perfect  submission  to  the  orders 
of  the  Romans,  was  advancing  to  their  gates  with  an  army 
of  20,000  men.  The  answer  returned  them  was,  that  the 
Romans  would  look  to  that  matter. 

This  order  was  immediately  put  into  execution :  200,000 
complete  sets  of  armour,  numerous  darts  and  javelins,  and 
2000  balistae  or  catapultae  were  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Ro- 
mans. They  were  accompanied  by  the  deputies,  the  sena- 
tors, and  priests  of  Carthage,  who  came  purposely  to  move 
the  Romans  to  compassion.  But  there  was  no  pity  for  them. 
Censorinus,  the  consul,  affected  at  first  some  kindness  to,  and 
affection  for  them ;  but  suddenly  assuming  a  severe  counte- 
nance, he  exclaimed,  "  I  cannot  but  commend  the  readiness 
with  which  you  execute  the  orders  of  the  senate.  They  have 
commanded  me  to  tell  you,  that  it  is  their  absolute  will  and 
pleasure  that  you  depart  out  of  Carthage,  which  they  have 
resolved  to  destroy ;  and  that  you  remove  into  any  other  part 
of  your  dominions  which  you  shall  think  proper,  provided  it 
be  at  the  distance  of  eighty  stadia,  or  twelve  miles,  from  the 
sea." 

The  instant  this  unjust  and  fulminating  decree  was  pro- 
nounced, nothing  was  heard  among  the  Carthaginians  but 
the  most  lamentable  outcries.  They  rolled  themselves  in  the 
dust,  tore  their  hair,  and  vented  their  grief  by  broken  sighs 
and  groans.  Afterwards,  being  somewhat  recovered,  they 
lifted  up  their  hands  with  the  air  of  suppliants,  one  moment 
towards  heaven,  and  the  next  to  the  Romans,  imploring  their 
mercy  and  justice.  But  being  unheeded,  they  changed  their 
prayers  into  reproaches  and  imprecations,  bidding  the  Ro- 
mans remember  that  there  were  avenging  deities  whose 
eyes  ever  observed  guilt  and  treachery.  The  Romans  them- 
selves could  not  refrain  from  tears  at  so  moving  a  spectacle, 
but  their  resolution  was  fixed.  The  deputies  could  not  even 
prevail  so  far  as  to  have  the  execution  of  the  order  suspended 
till  they  should  have  an  opportunity  of  presenting  themselves 
again  before  the  senate,  to  attempt,  if  possible,  its  revocation. 

The  people  waited  the  return  of  the  deputation  with  impa- 
tience ;  and  when  they  did  return,  it  was  scarcely  possible  for 
them  to  break  through  the  assembled  multitude,  who  flocked 


^^  1HE   THIRD   PUNIC    WAR. 

around  them  to  hear  their  answer.  When  they  were  come 
before  the  senate,  and  had  declared  the  barbarous  order  of  the 
Romans,  a  general  shriek  told  the  people  of  their  fate ;  and 
from  that  instant  they  gave  themselves  up  to  despair. 

The  consuls  made  no  great  haste  to  march  against  Car- 
thage, not  suspecting  that  they  had  now  anything  to  fear. 
But  the  despair  of  the  inhabitants  again  armed  them.  They 
took  the  opportunity  of  this  delay  to  put  themselves  into  a 
posture  of  defence,  being  unanimously  resolved  not  to  quit  the 
city.  They  appointed  as  general  without  the  walls,  Asdrubal, 
who  was  at  the  head  of  20,000  men,  and  to  whom  deputies 
were  sent  accordingly,  to  entreat  him  to  forget,  for  his  country's 
sake,  the  injustice  which  had  been  done  him,  from  the  dread 
they  were  under  of  the  Romans.  The  command  of  the  troops 
within  the  walls,  Was  given  to  another  Asdrubal,  grandson  of 
Masinissa.  They  then  applied  themselves  to  the  manufactory 
of  arms.  The  temples,  the  palaces,  the  open  markets  and 
squares,  were  all  changed  into  so  many  arsenals,  where  men 
and  women  worked  day  and  night.  Every  day  were  made 
140  shields,  300  swords,  500  javelins,  1,(  00  arrows,  and  a 
great  number  of  engines  for  their  discharge  :  and  because 
they  wanted  material  to  make  ropes,  the  women  cut  off  their 
hair  to  supply  the  need. 

At  length,  the  consuls  advanced  towards  the  city  in  order 
to  besiege  it.  As  they  now  expected  nothing  less  than  a 
vigorous  resistance,  the  resolution  and  the  courage  of  the  be- 
sieged filled  them  with  astonishment.  The  Carthaginians 
were  ever  making  the  boldest  sallies,  in  order  to  repulse  the 
besiegers,  to  burn  their  engines,  and  harass  their  foragers, 
Censorinus  attacked  the  city  on  one  side,  and  Manilius  on  the 
other.  Scipio,  afterwards  surnamed  Africanus,  served  then 
as  tribune  in  the  army,  and  distinguished  himself  above  the 
rest  of  the  officers,  both  by  his  prudence  and  his  bravery. 
The  consul,  under  whom  he  fought,  committed  many  over- 
sights by  refusing  to  follow  his  advice  ;  he  extricated  the 
troops  from  many  dangers  into  which  the  imprudence  of  their 
leaders  had  plunged  them ;  and  his  enemies  did  not  venture 
to  keep  the  field  when  it  was  his  turn  to  co-operate  viith  the 
consuls.  His  valour  and  his  merit,  indeed,  drew  over  to  the 
Roman  interest  Phamasas,  one  of  the  Carthaginian  officers^ 
with  above  2,000  horse,  which  band  was  of  great  service  at 
the  siege. 

Calpurnius  Piso,the  consul,  and  L.  Mancinus,his  lieutenanty 
arrived  in  Africa  in  the  beginning  of  the  next  spring.     No 


THE  THIRD   PUNIC   WAR.  325 

thing  remarkable  was  transacted  during  this  campaign.  The 
Romans  were  even  defeated  on  several  occasions,  and  the 
siege  of  Carthage  advanced  slowly.  The  besieged,  on  the 
contrary,  had  recovered  their  spirits.  Their  troops  were 
considerably  increased  ;  they  daily  obtained  new  allies,  and 
even  sent  an  express  as  far  as  Macedonia  to  the  counterfeit 
Philip,  who  pretended  to  be  the  son  of  Perseus,  and  was  then 
engaged  in  a  war  with  the  Romans,  to  exhort  him  to  carry  it 
on  with  vigour,  and  promising  to  furnish  him  with  money 
and  ships. 

This  news  caused  great  uneasiness  at  Rome.  The  people 
began  to  doubt  the  success  of  this  war.  As  much  as  they 
were  dissatisfied  with  the  supineness  of  the  generals,  and  ex- 
claimed against  their  conduct,  so  much  did  they  unanimously 
agree  in  applauding  young  Scipio,  and  extolling  his  virtues. 
He  was  now  come  to  Rome,  in  order  to  stand  candidate  for 
the  edileship.  The  instant  he  appeared  in  the  assembly,  his 
name,  countenance,  and  reputation,  led  to  a  general  persua- 
sion that  he  was  designed  to  end  the  third  Punic  war,  as  the 
first  Scipio,  his  grandfather,  had  terminated  the  second. 
These  several  circumstances  made  a  very  strong  impression 
on  the  people  ;  and,  though  it  was  contrary  to  law,  and  there- 
fore opposed  by  the  ancient  men,  instead  of  the  edileship  which 
he  sued  for,  the  consulship  was  conferred  upon  him,  and  Africa 
assigned  him  as  his  province,  without  casting  lots  as  usual,  and 
as  Drusus  his  colleague  demanded. 

Scipio  soon  after  arrived  in  Utica.  His  first  care  after  his 
arrival  was  to  revive  discipline  among  the  troops,  which  had 
been  entirely  neglected.  He  drove  from  the  camp  all  useless 
persons,  settled  the  quality  of  the  provisions  he  would  have 
brought  in  by  the  sutlers,  and  allowed  only  such  as  wero 
plain  and  fit  for  soldiers.  After  these  regulations  were  made, 
he  prepared  to  carry  on  the  siege  with  vigour.  Having 
ordered  his  troops  to  provide  themselves  with  axes,  levers, 
and  scaling-ladders,  he  led  them  silently  in  the  dead  of  the 
night  to  that  district  of  the  city  called  Megara ;  when,  ordering 
them  to  give  a  sudden  shout,  he  attacked  it  with  great  vigour. 
The  enemy  were  at  first  in  the  utmost  alarm:  they  defended 
themselves,  however,  so  courageously,  that  Scipio  could  not 
scale  the  walls.  But  perceiving  a  tower  that  was  forsaken, 
and  which  stood  without  the  city  very  near  the  walls,  he  de- 
tached thither  a  party  of  soldiers,  who,  by  the  help  of  pontons, 
or  a  sort  of  moveable  bridge,  got  from  the  tower  on  the  walls, 
and  from  thence  into  Megara,  the  gates  of  which  they  broke 

VOL.  II.  28 


326  THE  THIRD   PUNIC   WAR. 

down.  Scipio  entered  it  immediately,  and  drove  the  Cartha- 
ginians out  of  that  post :  terrified  at  this  unexpected  assault, 
and  imagining  that  the  whole  city  was  taken,  they  fled  into 
the  citadel,  whither  they  were  followed  by  the  forces  that  were 
encamped  without  the  city. 

It  will  be  proper  to  give  here  some  account  of  the  situation 
and  dimensions  of  Carthage,  which  in  the  beginning  of  the 
war  against  the  Romans  contained  700,000  inhabitants.  It 
stood  at  the  bottom  of  a  gulf,  surrounded  by  the  sea,  and  in 
the  form  of  a  peninsula,  whose  nedi:,  that  is,  the  isthmus 
which  joined  it  to  the  continent,  was  twenty-five  stadia,  or  a 
league  and  a  quarter,  in  breadth.  The  peninsula  was  360 
stadia,  or  forty-five  miles  round.  On  the  west  side,  there 
projected  from  it  a  long  neck  of  land,  half  a  stadium,  or  about 
seventy  feet,  broad ;  which  advancing  into  the  sea,  divided  it 
from  a  morass,  and  was  fenced  on  all  sides  with  rocks  and  a 
single  wall.  On  the  south  side,  towards  the  cojitinent,  where 
stood  the  citadel  called  Byrsa,  the  city  was  surrounded  by  a 
triple  Avail,  thirty  cubits,  or  about  forty-five  feet  high,  exclu- 
sive of  the  parapets  and  towers  with  which  it  was  flanked  all 
round  at  equal  distances,  each  interval  being  fourscore  fathoms, 
or  about  480  feet.  Every  tower  was  four  stories  high,  and 
the  walls  but  two  ;  they  were  arched,  and  in  the  lower  part 
were  stalls  to  hold  300  elephants  with  their  fodder,  and  over 
these  were  stables  for  4,000  horses  and  lofts  for  their  food. 
There,  likewise,  was  room  enough  to  lodge  20,000  foot,  and 
4,000  horse  soldiers.  All  these  were  contained  within  the 
walls  alone.  In  one  place  only  the  walls  were  weak  and 
low,  and  that  was  a  neglected  angle  which  began  at  the  neck 
of  land  above  mentioned,  and  extended  as  far  as  the  harbours 
which  were  on  the  west  side.  Of  these  there  were  two, 
which  communicated  with  each  other,  but  had  only^one  en- 
trance, seventy  feet  broad,  shut  up  with  chains.  The  first 
was  appropriated  for  the  merchants,  and  had  several  distinct 
habitations  for  the  seamen.  The  second,  or  inner  harbour, 
was  for  the  ships  of  war,  in  the  midst  of  which  stood  an  island 
called  Cothon,  lined,  as  the  harbour  was,  with  large  quays  in 
which  were  distinct  receptacles  for  sheltering  from  the  wea- 
ther 220  ships.  Over  these  were  magazines,  or  storehouses, 
wherein  was  lodged  whatever  was  necessary  for  arming  and 
equipping  fleets.  The  entrance  into  each  of  these  receptacles 
was  adorned  with  two  marble  pillars  of  the  Ionic  order ;  so 
that  both  the  harbour  and  the  island  represented  on  each  side 
two  magnificent  galleries.     In  this  island  was  the  admiral's 


THE   THIRD   PUNIC   WAR.  327" 

palace ;  and  as  it  stood  opposite  to  the  mouth  of  the  harbour, 
he  could  from  thence  discover  whatever  was  doing  at  sea  • 
but  no  one  from  thence  could  discern  the  transactions  within 
the  harbour.  The  merchants,  in  like  manner,  had  no  pros- 
pect of  the  men  of  war :  the  two  ports  being  separated  by  a 
double  wall,  each  having  its  particular  gate,  that  led  to  the 
city,  without  passing  through  the  other. 

Asdrubal,  perceiving  at  daybreak  the  ignominious  defeat 
of  his  troops,  in  order  that  he  might  be  revenged  on  the  Ro- 
mans, and  at  the  same  time  deprive  the  inhabitants  of  all 
hopes  of  accommodation  and  pardon,  brought  all  the  Roman 
prisoners  he  had  taken,  upon  the  walls,  in  sight  of  the  whole 
army.  He  there  put  them  to  the  most  exquisite  tortures,  and 
then  threw  them  down  from  the  battlements.  The  Carthagi- 
nians themselves  were  filled  with  horror  at  the  sight ;  but  he  did 
not  spare  even  them :  he  destroyed  many  senators  who  had 
ventured  to  oppose  his  tyranny. 

Finding  himself  master  of  the  isthmus,  Scipio  burned  the 
camp  which  the  enemy  had  deserted,  and  built  a  new  one  for 
his  troops.  It  was  of  a  square  form,  surrounded  with  large 
and  deep  intrenchments,  and  fenced  with  strong  palisades. 
On  the  side  which  faced  Carthage,  he  built  a  wall  twelve  feet 
high,  flanked  at  proper  distances  with  towers  and  redoubts  ; 
and  on  the  middle  tower  he  erected  a  very  high  wooden  fort, 
from  whence  could  be  seen  all  that  was  doing  in  the  city. 
This  wall  was  equal  to  the  whole  breadth  of  the  isthmus,  that 
is,  twenty-four  stadia,  or  four  miles  and  three  quarters.  The 
enemy  who  were  within  bow-shot  of  it,  employed  their  utmost 
efforts  to  stop  this  work,  but  as  the  whole  army  were  em- 
ployed upon  it  constantly,  it  was  finished  in  twenty-four  days. 
Scipio  reaped  a  two-fold  advantage  from  this  work :  first,  his 
forces  were  lodged  more  securely  than  heretofore  ;  secondly, 
he  cut  ofTall  provisions  from  the  besieged,  except  those  which 
were  brought  by  sea.  This  was  one  of  the  chief  causes  of 
the  famine  which  soon  after  raged  in  the  city. 

To  distress  them  still  more  by  the  want  of  provisions, 
Scipio  attempted  to  stop  up  the  mouth  of  the  haven  by  a  mole 
beginning  at  the  above  mentioned  neck  of  land,  Avhich  was 
near  the  harbour.  At  first,  the  besieged  looked  upon  this 
attempt  as  ridiculous,  and  they  insuhed  the  workmen  ;  but,  at 
last,  seeing  them  make  an  astonishing  progress  every  day, 
they  began  to  fear  the  result,  and  to  take  such  measures  as 
might  render  the  attempt  unsuccessful.  Every  one,  even  the 
women  and  children,  worked,  but  so  secretly,  that  all  Scipio 


32Bt  THE   THIRD   PUNIC   WAR. 

could  learn  from  the  prisoners  was,  that  they  heard  a  great 
noise  in  the  harbour,  but  did  not  know  the  occasion  of  it.  At 
length,  the  Carthaginians  opened  on  a  sudden,  a  new  outlet 
on  the  other  side  of  the  haven,  and  appeared  at  sea  with  a 
numerous  fleet,  which  they  had  just  then  built  with  the  old 
materials  found  in  their  magazines.  It  is  thought,  that  had 
they  attacked  the  Roman  fleet  directly,  they  must  have  taken 
it,  inasmuch  as  it  was  unarmed ;  but  the  ruin  of  Carthage, 
says  the  historian,  was  decreed:  having  only  oflered  a  bravado 
to  the  Romans,  they  returned  into  the  harbour. 

Two  days  after,  they  appeared  again  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  the  Roman  fleet,  but  they  found  the  enemy  ready  for 
them.  This  battle  was  to  determine  the  fate  of  both  parties. 
The  conflict  was  fearful,  each  exerting  themselves  to  the  ut- 
most. During  the  battle,  the  Carthaginian  brigantines  run- 
ning along  under  the  large  Roman  ships,  broke  to  pieces 
sometimes  their  sterns,  and  at  other  times  their  rudders  and 
oars;  and  when  attacked,  they  retreated  with  surprising 
swiftness,  and  as  swiftly  returned  to  the  charge.  At  length, 
after  the  two  armies  had  fought  with  equal  success  till  sunset, 
the  Carthaginians  retired.  Part  of  their  ships  not  being  able 
to  run  swiftly  enough  into  the  harbour,  by  reason  of  its  nar- 
row mouth,  took  shelter  under  a  spacious  terrace  which  had 
been  thrown  up  against  the  walls  to  unload  the  goods,  on  the 
side  of  which  a  small  rampart  had  been  raised  to  prevent  the 
enemy  from  possessing  themselves  of  it.  Here  the  strife  was 
renewed  with  redoubled  vigour,  and  the  Carthaginians  suf- 
fered very  much ;  but  few  ships  escaped,  and  they  sailed  to 
the  city  for  refuge.  The  next  morning,  Scipio  attacked  the 
terrace,  and  carried  it;  after  which,  he  made  a  lodgment 
there,  fortified  himself  on  it,  and  built  a  brick  wall  close  to 
that  of  the  city,  of  the  same  height.  When  it  was  completed, 
he  commanded  4,000  men  to  get  on  the  top  of  it,  and  to  dis- 
charge from  it  a  perpetual  shower  of  darts  and  arrows  which 
did  great  execution.  With  this  achievement  this  campaign 
was  closed. 

During  the  winter,  Scipio  endeavoured  to  overpower  the 
enemy's  Iroops  without  the  city.  For  this  purpose,  he  at- 
tacked a  neighbouring  fort,  called  Nepheris,  where  they 
sheltered  themselves.  In  this  action,  a  great  number  of  Car- 
thaginians and  peasants  who  had  enhsted  were  slain,  and  the 
fort  was  taken  after  sustaining  a  siege  of  twenty-two  days. 
The  capture  of  this  fort  was  followed  by  the  surrender  of  al- 
most all  the  strongholds  in  Africa ;  and  it  contributed  very 


THE  THIRD  PUNIC   WARS.  329 

much  to  the  downfall  of  C^hage  itself,  into  which  from 
that  time,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  introduce  any  provi- 
sions. 

Early  in  the  next  spring,  Scipio  attacked,  at  the  same  time, 
the  harbour  called  Cothon  and  the  citadel.  Having  possessed 
himself  of  the  wall  which  surrounded  this  port,  he  threw  him- 
self into  the  great  square  of  the  city  that  was  near  it,  from 
whence  was  an  ascent  to  the  citadel,  up  three  streets,  on  each 
side  of  which  were  houses,  from  the  top  whereof  a  shower  of 
darts  were  discharged  upon  the  Romans,  who  were  obliged 
before  they  could  advance  farther,  to  force  the  houses  they 
came  first  to,  and  post  themselves  in  them,  in  order  to  dis- 
lodge from  thence  the  enemy  who  fought  from  the  neigh- 
bouring houses.  The  combat  was  carried  on  for  six  suc- 
cessive days,  during  which  time  a  dreadful  slaughter  was 
made. 

There  was  every  reason  to  fear  that  the  siege  would  last 
much  longer,  and  occasion  a  still  greater  effusion  of  blood  ; 
but  on  the  seventh  day  there  appeared  a  company  of  men  in 
the  posture  and  habit  of  suppliants,  who  desired  no  other  con- 
ditions than  that  the  Romans  would  please  to  spare  the  lives 
of  all  those  who  should  be  willing  to  leave  the  citadel.  This 
request  was  complied  with,  the  deserters  only  excepted.  Ac- 
cordingly, there  came  out  50,000  men  and  women,  who  were 
sent  into  the  fields  under  a  strong  guard.  The  deserters, 
who  were  about  900,  finding  they  would  not  be  allowed 
quarter,  fortified  themselves  in  the  temple  of  Esculapius,  (the 
god  of  medicine  in  ancient  mythology,)  with  Asdrubal,  his 
wife,  and  two  children  ;  where,  though  their  number  was  but 
small,  they  might  have  withstood  the  enemy  a  long  time,  be- 
cause the  temple  was  situated  upon  high  rocks,  the  only 
ascent  to  which  was  by  sixty  steps.  But  at  length,  exhausted 
by  hunger  and  watching,  and  oppressed  with  fear,  they  lost 
all  patience :  abandoning  the  lower  part  of  the  temple,  they 
retired  to  the  uppermost  story,  resolving  net  to  quit  it,  but 
with  their  lives. 

Asdrubal,  however,  being  desirous  of  saving  his  own  life, 
came  down  privately  to  Scipio,  carrying  an  olive-branch  in 
his  hand,  and  threw  himself  at  his  feet.  Scipio  showed  him 
immediately  to  the  deserters,  who,  transported  with  rage  at 
the  sight,  vented  bitter  imprecations  against  him,  and  set  fire 
to  the  temple.  While  it  was  kindhng,  it  is  said,  that  Asdru- 
bal's  wife,  dressing  herself  as  splendidly  as  possible,  and 
placing  herself  and  two  children  in  sight  of  Scipio.  ad- 
28* 


"330  THE  THIRD  PUNIC   WAR. 

dressed  him  with  a  loud  voice  thus  :  "  I  call  not  down  curses 
upon  thy  head,  O  Roman  ;  for  thou  only  takest  the  privilege 
allowed  by  the  laws  of  war :  but  may  the  gods  of  Carthage, 
and  thou  in  concert  with  them,  punish  according  to  his  de- 
serts, the  false  wretch  who  has  betrayed  his  country,  his  gods, 
his  wife,  his  children!"  Then  directing  herself  to  Asdrubal, 
"  Perfidious  wretch,"  said  she,  "  thou  basest  of  men,  this  fire 
will  presently  consume  both  me  and  my  children  ;  but  as  to 
thee,  unworthy  general  of  Carthage,  go,  adorn  the  gay 
triumph  of  thy  conqueror  ;  suffer  in  the  sight  of  all  Rome  the 
tortures  thou  so  justly  deservest."  She  had  no  sooner  pro- 
nounced these  words,  than  seizing  her  children,  she  slew 
them,  cast  them  into  the  flames,  and  afterwards  rushed 
into  them  herself;  in  which  act  she  was  imitated  by  all  the 
deserters. 

Reader,  this  tragical  act  which  the  wife  of  Asdrubal  com- 
mitted, is  one  of  the  most  appalling  incidents  recorded  in  the 
pages  of  this  history.  A  sacred  writer  has  spoken  of  the 
abandonment  of  her  offspring  by  a  fond  mother  as  next  to  an 
impossibility  ;  but  in  this  instance  they  perish  by  a  mother's 
hand.  Evil,  indeed,  must  that  source  be,  which  can  produce 
such  bitter  fruits  as  these.  We  say  bitter ;  for  though  the 
heathen  world  looked  upon  such  deeds  with  complacency, 
and  even  as  the  results  of  heroism  and  high-born  virtue,  to  a 
Christian,  whose  standard  of  heroism  and  virtue,  is  far  more 
exalted  than  theirs,  such  a  deed  as  this  must  be  considered 
one  of  the  foulest  crimes  that  ever  stained  the  annals  of 
paganism.  Christian  parents,  rejoice  in  that  ye  are  blessed 
with  the  light  of  the  gospel  dispensation — in  that  ye  are 
taught  to  suffer  evils  with  such  exahed  patience  as  to  possess 
your  souls ;  to  regard  your  offspring  with  filial  love  and  ten- 
derness, and  as  the  gifts  of  a  beneficent  Creator  unto  whom 
you  are  responsible  for  your  treatment  of  them.  Your  sys- 
tem of  moral  duties  both  towards  God  and  towards  man  is 
pure  indeed  !  Study  them,  and  act  up  to  them,  as  unfolded 
in  the  pages  of  Holy  Writ,  and  they  will  not  only  preserve 
you  from  crime,  but  impart  unto  you  happiness  in  time  and 
in  eternity. 

But  we  proceed.  With  regard  to  Scipio,  when  he  saw 
this  celebrated  city,  which  had  flourished  for  700  years,  en- 
tirely ruined,  he  could  not  forbear  weeping  at  its  hapless  fate. 
He  reflected,  that  cities,  nations,  and  empires,  are  liable  to  re- 
volutions no  less  than  private  men — that  a  similar  fate  had 
befallen  Troy,  anciently  so  powerful ;  and  in  later  times  the 


THE  THIRD   PUNIC   WAR.  331 

Assyrians,  Medes,  and  Persians,  whose  dominions  were  once 
of  such  vast  extent ;  and  very  recently,  the  Macedonians, 
whose  empire  had  been  so  glorious  throughout  the  world. 
Full  of  these  mournful  ideas,  he  repeated  the  following  lines 
from  Homer  : — 

"  The  day  shall  come,  that  great  avenging  day, 
Which  Troy's  proud  glories  in  the  dust  shall  lay  ; 
When  Priam's  powers,  and  Priam's  self  shall  fall, 
And  one  prodigious  ruin  swallow  all." — Pope. 

He  thereby  pronounced  the  future  destiny  of  Rome,  as  he  him- 
self confessed  to  Polybius,  who  desired  Scipio  on  that  occasion 
to  explain  himself 

Had  Scipio  been  a  Christian,  he  would  have  discovered 
what  we  are  taught  by  the  wise  son  of  Sirach.  "  Because  of 
unrio-hteous  dealings,"  says  he,  "injuries  and  riches  got  by 
deceit,  a  kingdom  is  translated  from  one  people  to  another." 
He  would  have  exclaimed,  "  Say  among  the  heathen,  that 
the  Lord  reigneth."  Carthage  is  destroyed  because  its 
idolatry,  avarice,  perfidiousness,  and  cruelty  have  attained 
their  utmost  height ;  and  when  the  measure  of  the  iniquities 
of  Rome  is  filled  up  ;  when  its  luxury,  pride,  and  unjust 
usurpations,  concealed  beneath  a  specious  glare  of  justice  and 
virtue,  have  reached  their  limits,  it  will  experience  a  similar 
fate.  The  sovereign  Lord,  the  disposer  of  empires,  who 
"  putteth  down  one  and  setteth  up  another,  shall  give  the  uni- 
verse an  important  lesson  in  its  downfall." 

Carthage  being  thus  taken,  Scipio  gave  the  plunder  of  it 
(the  gold,  silver,  statues,  and  other  offerings  in  the  temples 
excepted)  to  his  soldiers.  He  afterwards  bestowed  several 
military  rewards  on  them,  as  well  as  on  the  officers,  two  of 
whom  Tib.  Gracchus  and  Caius  Fannius,  had  particularly 
distinguished  themselves.  After  this,  adorning  a  small  ship 
with  the  enemy's  spoils,  he  sent  it  to  Rome,  with  the  news 
of  the  capture  of  Carthage.  This  event  occurred  146 
years  b.  c. 

At  the  same  time  he  invited  the  inhabitants  of  Sicily  to 
come  and  take  possession  of  the  paintings  and  statues  of 
which  the  Carthaginians  had  plundered  them  in  the  former 
wars.  When  he  restored  to  the  citizens  of  Agrigentum  the 
famous  bull  Phalaris,  he  told  them  that  this  bull,  which  was 
at  once  a  monument  of  the  cruelty  of  their  ancient  kings,  and 
of  the  lenity  of  their  present  rulers,  ought  to  make  them  sen- 
sible which  would  be  most  advantageous  for  them,  to  live 


332  THE   THIRD   PUNIC   WAR. 

under  the  yoke  of  the  Sicilians,  or  the  government  of  the 
Romans. 

Having  exposed  to  sale  part  of  the  spoils  of  Carthage,  he 
commanded  his  family  not  to  take  or  even  buy  any  of  them ; 
so  careful  was  he  to  remove  from  himself,  and  all  belonging 
to  him,  the  least  suspicion  of  avarice. 

When  the  news  of  taking  Carthage  was  brought  to  Rome, 
the  people  abandoned  themselves  to  the  most  immoderate 
transports  of  joy,  as  though  the  public  tranquillity  had  not 
been  secure  till  that  instant.  They  revolved  in  their  minds 
all  the  calamities  which  the  Carthaginians  had  brought  upon 
them  in  Sicily,  Spain,  and  Italy,  for  seventeen  years  together ; 
during  which  time  Hannibal  had  plundered  400  towns,  de- 
stroyed, in  different  engagements,  300,000  men,  and  reduced 
Rome  itself  to  the  verge  of  ruin.  Amidst  the  remembrance 
of  these  evils,  the  people  in  Rome  would  ask  one  another 
whether  it  were  really  true  that  Carthage  was  in  ashes.  All 
ranks  and  degrees  of  men  strove  who  should  show  the  great- 
est gratitude  towards  their  idol  gods ;  and  the  citizens  were 
for  many  days  employed  in  solemn  sacrifices,  public  prayers, 
games,  and  spectacles. 

After  this  the  senate  sent  ten  commissioners  into  Africa,  to 
regulate,  in  conjunction  with  Scipio,  the  fate  and  condition 
of  that  country  for  the  future.  Their  first  care  was  to  de- 
molish whatever  was  still  remaining  of  Carthage,  which  they 
did  by  fire.  Rome,  though  mirtsess  of  almost  the  whole 
world,  could  not  believe  herself  safe  as  long  as  even  the  name 
of  Carthage  was  in  being.  So  true  it  is,  that  an  inveterate 
hatred,  fomented  by  long  and  soul-hardening  wars,  lasts  even 
beyond  the  time  when  all  cause  of  fear  is  removed ;  and 
does  not  cease  till  the  object  that  occasions  it  is  no  more. 

But  the  enmity  of  Rome  did  not  stop  here.  Orders  were 
given  in  the  name  of  the  Romans  that  it  should  never  be  in- 
habited again ;  and  imprecations  were  denounced  against 
those  who  contrary  to  this  prohibition,  should  attempt  to  re- 
build any  part  of  it,  especially  those  called  Byrsa  and  Megara. 
In  the  mean  time,  every  one  who  desired  it,  was  admitted  to 
see  Carthage  :  Scipio  being  well  pleased  to  exhibit  the  ruins 
of  a  city  which  had  contended  with  Rome  for  empire.  The 
commissioners  decreed  farther,  that  those  cities  which,  during 
this  war,  had  joined  with  the  enemy,  should  all  be  razed, 
and  their  territories  given  to  the  Roman  allies.  They  parti- 
cularly made  a  grant  to  thp  citizens  of  Utica  of  rbe  whole 
country  between   Carthage  and  Hippo      All   the   rt-t^t   fh^y 


THE   TIHRD   PUNIC   WAR.  333 

made  tributary,  and  reduced  it  into  a  Roman  province, 
whither  a  pretor  was  sent  annually. 

These  affairs  being  settled,  Scipio  returned  to  Rome, 
where  he  made  his  entry  in  triumph.  Such  a  magnificent 
one  had  never  been  seen  before  ;  it  exhibited  the  statues,  in- 
valuable paintings,  and  other  curiosities  which  the  Cartha- 
ginians had  for  many  years  been  collecting  in  other  countries ; 
not  to  mention  the  money  carried  into  the  public  treasury. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  precautions  which  were  taken 
to  hinder  Carthage  from  being  rebuih,  in  less  than  thirty  years 
after,  one  of  the  Gracchi,  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  people, 
undertook  to  found  it  anew,  and  conducted  thither  a  colony 
consisting  of  6000  citizens  for  that  purpose.  The  senate, 
hearing  that  the  workmen  had  been  terrified  by  many  un- 
lucky omens,  at  the  time  they  were  tracing  the  limits  and  lay- 
ing the  foundation  of  the  new  city,  would  have  suspended  the 
attempt ;  but  the  tribune  not  being  scrupulous  in  such  matters, 
carried  on,  and  completed  the  work.  This  was  the  first  Ro- 
man colony  that  was  ever  sent  out  of  Italy. 

There  are  still  remains  to  be  seen  on  this  coast  which  are 
generally  believed  to  be  those  of  Roman  Carthage.  The 
town  was  called  Colonia  Carthago.  It  stood  on  the  south-east 
part  of  the  peninsula  between  Cape  Carthage  and  Goletta, 
and  it  occupied  but  a  small  part  of  the  site  of  the  old  city.  It 
rose  to  considerable  splendour,  had  its  Cothon  or  harbour, 
and  became  the  first  city  of  Africa  while  that  continent  was 
under  the  sway  of  the  Romans.  It  is  known  in  Christian 
history  for  its  councils,  and  for  the  spiritual  labours  of  St. 
Augustine.  It  was  taken  by  the  Vandals  under  Genseric, 
A.  D.  439 ;  retaken  by  Belisarius,  a.  d.  533 ;  and  finally  de- 
stroyed by  the  Saracens,  in  689,  after  existing  about  seven 
centuries. 


END  OF  VOL.   n. 


DATE    DUE 


^i^tBe^ 


^f^^^nmjj 


GAYLORD 


PRINTED  IN  USA 


iiniiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiinjiiiini  I 
0021130647 


'■-^^^»^»^^>^ 


